Adrian Shin

Inequality and immigration policy

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 21:47:24 +0000

Inequality and immigration policy Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 15:47

By: Margaret E Peters, Adrian J Shin

Abstract:

How does inequality between capital and labor affect immigration policy? Increasing inequality can heighten anti-immigrant attitudes among host-state workers. Yet, for labor-intensive firms, their increasing share of the value added provides more business opportunities to expand their production, which in turn leads to increased business support for open immigration. Given these countervailing pressures of rising inequality in immigration policymaking, we argue that a country’s level of economic development holds the key to the causal mechanism between inequality and immigration policy openness. In less-developed economies where local and immigrant workers compete for the same jobs, rising inequality leads to more restrictive immigration policy. In advanced economies where local and immigrant workers are complements, rising inequality leads to less restrictive immigration policy. Using data on the capital share of the value added in the industrial sector as a measure of inequality in 24 democracies from 1947 to 2006, we find support for our argument.

Off

Traditional

White

IMF: International migration fund

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 21:45:41 +0000

IMF: International migration fund Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 15:45

IMF: International migration fund

By: Merih Angin, Albana Shehaj, Adrian J Shin

Abstract:

Existing models of international organizations focus on the strategic and commercial interests of major shareholders to explain why some countries secure better deals from international organizations. Focusing on the International Monetary Fund (IMF), we argue that the Fund’s major shareholders pressure the IMF to minimize short-term adjustment costs in the borrowing country when they host a large number of the country’s nationals. Stringent loan packages often exacerbate short-term economic distress in the borrowing country, which in turn causes more people to migrate to countries where their co-ethnics reside. Analyzing all IMF programs from 1978 to 2014, we assess our hypothesis that IMF borrowers with larger diasporas in the major IMF shareholder countries tend to secure better arrangements from the IMF. Our findings show that when migration pressures on the G5 countries increase, borrowing countries receive larger loan disbursements and fewer conditions.

Off

Traditional

White

Severing the Belt and Road: Overseas Chinese Networks and COVID-19 Travel Restrictions

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 21:44:34 +0000

Severing the Belt and Road: Overseas Chinese Networks and COVID-19 Travel Restrictions Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 15:44

Severing the Belt and Road: Overseas Chinese Networks and COVID-19 Travel Restrictions

By: Sung Eun Kim, Adrian J Shin, Yujeong Yang

Abstract:

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world have imposed a wide variety of entry restrictions on international travel. Historical cases illustrate that public health concerns based on entrenched prejudices toward immigrant communities have led to restrictive measures against migration from foreign countries. Using our new dataset, COVID-19 Travel Restrictions and Categories, we examine whether Chinese migrant networks around the world have driven government decisions to bar the entry of Chinese nationals and travelers from China in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our survival analysis of China-specific travel restrictions from January to March 2020 shows that not all Chinese migrant networks were important determinants. We find that entry bans on travel from China emerged more quickly in countries where a large number of temporary Chinese migrants work in clustered sites of Chinese contracted projects.

Off

Traditional

White

Fed Up: The Global Ascension of the Federal Reserve in the Era of Migration

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 21:42:00 +0000

Fed Up: The Global Ascension of the Federal Reserve in the Era of Migration Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 15:42

Fed Up: The Global Ascension of the Federal Reserve in the Era of Migration

By: Brendan J Connell, Adrian J Shin

Abstract:

In recent decades, the Federal Reserve has emerged as a global lender of last resort. In this article, we investigate whether the prospect of unwanted migration has driven lawmakers’ support for the Fed's increased international role. During an economic crisis, declines in investor confidence and capital flight to developed economies often cause economic hardship in the developing world, thus encouraging increased migration into advanced industrial economies. Concerned about voter opposition to increased immigration, immigration-averse policymakers of migrant-receiving states will seek ways to reduce the economic distress of migrant-sending states. To corroborate our argument, we analyze congressional voting on the “Audit the Fed” bills in the US House of Representatives from 2012 to 2015. Using the district-level foreign-born population as an indicator of migration pressure, our evidence suggests that anti-immigrant lawmakers are more likely to support the Federal Reserve's international initiatives when their districts face a disproportionately high level of migrant pressure.

Off

Traditional

White

The usual suspects?: Attitudes towards immigration during the COVID-19 pandemic

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 21:40:24 +0000

The usual suspects?: Attitudes towards immigration during the COVID-19 pandemic Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 15:40

The usual suspects?: Attitudes towards immigration during the COVID-19 pandemic

By: Sung Eun Kim, Adrian J Shin, Yujeong Yang

Abstract:

COVID-19 has intensified public apprehension about foreigners. In this article, we examine two questions related to public opinion on immigration. First, we assess the importance of cultural and economic factors in studying why individuals support or oppose immigration. Second, we examine the role of public health concerns in shaping attitudes towards open borders by priming the vaccination status of immigrants and the number of COVID-19 cases in their home countries. Using a conjoint analysis based on the data provided by nearly 1,700 respondents in South Korea, we find empirical support for both the existing explanations and public health concerns.

Off

Traditional

White

Historical Immigration Policies: Trends and Lessons

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 21:33:42 +0000

Historical Immigration Policies: Trends and Lessons Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 15:33

Historical Immigration Policies: Trends and Lessons

By: Margaret E Peters, Frida Boräng, Sara Kalm, Johannes Lindvall, Adrian J Shin

Abstract:

In recent years, scholars of migration have created several new immigration policy indexes, but most existing databases have limited temporal scope. They also focus, to a large extent, on the Global North. In this research note, we introduce the Historical Immigration Policy dataset (HIP), which begins to fill these gaps. We first provide an overview of the data and then describe how they offer new insights into immigration policy. We make three empirical observations. (1) On average, democracies are less open to immigration than authoritarian states but grant resident migrants more rights. (2) European states were open to immigration earlier than standard accounts of global migration assume. (3) Historically, openness to immigration and inclusive rights for resident migrants have often been complements, not substitutes.

Off

Traditional

White

Exchange rates and immigration policy

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 21:40:47 +0000

Exchange rates and immigration policy Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 06/03/2021 - 15:40

Exchange rates and immigration policy

By: Adrian Shin

Abstract:

What explains cross-national and temporal variations in migrant rights? This article argues that policymakers implement more exclusionary or inclusive policies toward migrants in response to exchange-rate fluctuations. Since exchange rates affect the real value of remittances, exchange-rate depreciation of the host state’s currency makes migration less valuable for existing and potential migrants, while exchange-rate appreciation increases the degree of migrant pressure on the host state by doing the opposite. This well-documented relationship between exchange rate valuation and migration movements affects how host country governments craft immigration policy. Under exchange-rate depreciation, policymakers will implement more inclusive policies to deter the “exit” of migrants and maintain a stable supply of labor. Under exchange-rate appreciation, increased migration pressures heighten public anxiety over immigration in the host country, in turn causing policymakers to restrict further immigration by implementing more exclusionary policies. Consistent with the argument, the empirical results show that the purchasing-power-parity (PPP) currency values of migrants’ home countries are positively correlated with more pro-migrant policies in host countries.

Learn more Here: Exchange rates and immigration policy

Off

Traditional

White

Migration and Economic Coercion

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 21:36:53 +0000

Migration and Economic Coercion Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 06/03/2021 - 15:36

Migration and Economic Coercion

By: Brendan J Connell, Samantha L Moya, Adrian J Shin

Abstract:

Sender costs of economic sanctions exacerbate the enforcement problem associated with multilateral coercive measures. When third-country sanctioners share strategic interests with the target state, they have commercial and diplomatic incentives to defect from multilateral sanctions arrangements. In addition to these well-documented sender costs, this article argues that migration pressure from the target state has become an important consideration for potential sanctioners. Economic sanctions often increase the economic distress on the target country, which in turn causes more people to migrate to countries where their co-ethnics reside. Countries hosting a large number of nationals from the target country face a disproportionately high level of migration pressure when sanctions increase emigration from the target country. Therefore, policymakers of these countries oppose economic sanctions on the target country as an attempt to preempt further migration. Analyzing the sanctions bills in the European Parliament from 2011 to 2015, we find empirical support for our prediction.

Learn more here: Migration and Economic Coercion

Off

Traditional

White

Inequality and the Partisan Political Economy

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 17:46:36 +0000

Inequality and the Partisan Political Economy Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/08/2021 - 10:46

Professor Shin recently published a new article, "Inequality and the Partisan Political Economy". The article explores how inequality affects redistributive tax policies and the responses from both sides of the political spectrum.

Learn more at : Inequality and the Partisan Political Economy

Off

Traditional

White

Inside job: Migration and distributive politics in the European Union

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 21:04:07 +0000

Inside job: Migration and distributive politics in the European Union Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 01/13/2021 - 14:04

Angin, M, Shehaj, A, & Shin, AJ. Inside job: Migration and distributive politics in the European Union. Econ Polit. 2020; 00: 1– 25. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecpo.12170.

Published: 06 January 2021

Abstract:

Migration has become a top policy priority of the European Union (EU) in the wake of the 2015 migrant crisis. Given the significant ramifications of non‐European immigration for its member states, the EU has implemented a variety of policies to minimize popular backlashes within the borders of its wealthiest member states, which are also popular final destinations for migrants. In this article, we show that the EU offers financial incentives to its migrant‐transit member countries in exchange for holding migrants traveling from the Middle East and North Africa region within their territories. We use a subnational dataset on Southern Italy to examine the effects of migrant arrivals by boat on the amount of the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund received by each autonomous region between 2006 and 2018. In addition, we provide a cross‐national analysis of EU expenditures using data on unauthorized border crossings into the EU between 2009 and 2018. We find robust empirical support for the argument that the EU channels more funds to jurisdictions located on the major migrant‐transit routes.

Off

Traditional

White