Policy
Policy publications:
Are women's labour force participation rates improving in sub-Saharan Africa?
WIDER Research Brief 4/22, 2022.
Common Pitfalls in the Interpretation of COVID-19 Data and Statistics
Intereconomics, Vol. 55, No. 3, 2020, 162-166.
Link to the full paper (open access), part of The European Response to the Coronavirus Crisis
Policymakers, experts and the general public heavily rely on the data that are being reported in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. Daily data releases on confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths provide information on the course of the pandemic. The same data are also essential for the estimation of indicators such as the reproduction rate and for the evaluation of policy interventions that seek to slow down the pandemic. Together with the proliferation of data, however, a number of pitfalls have arisen with regard to the interpretation of the data and the conclusions that can be drawn from them. The aim of this paper is to highlight the most common among these pitfalls given that they have the potential to intentionally or unintentionally mislead the public debate and thereby the course of future policy actions.
Bewährungsprobe Corona: Die VWL leistet ihren Beitrag (Litmus test Corona: Economics has been contributing its share)
bdvb aktuell, No. 150, S. 36-38.
An article in German language highlighting the role of economics and economic policy during the COVID-19 pandemic, published in the magazine of the Bundesverband Deutscher Volks- und Betriebswirte e.V., a professional association of German business academics and economists.
A Union Humanitarian Visa Framework
joint with Mikkel Barslund and Augusta Nannerini, Migration Policy Practice, Vol. IX, Number 3, July-September 2019.
Link to the full issue published on Eurasylum.org
The article discusses the implications of a resolution by the European Parliament in December 2018 asking the European Commission to present a proposal for a common European Union framework on the provision of humanitarian visas. The article argues that a Union Humanitarian Visa Framework building on both voluntary pledges and mutual financial support would constitute a feasible instrument for the broader protection of third-country nationals in fear of persecution. This would take account of the current fragmentation of European Union Member States around the issue of migration and humanitarian protection and address the political challenge of achieving full and European Union-wide cooperation and advocating for a compulsory scheme.
Implementing Flexible Solidarity
joint with Mikkel Barslund and Mattia Di Salvo, in: 2019 MEDAM Assessment Report on Asylum and Migration Policies in Europe, Kiel: IfW, pp. 30-40.
Link to the full report on ceps.eu
This section details how the external dimension of asylum and migration policy should be complemented by reforms to internal policies under the EU’s Common European Asylum System (CEAS), and how further centralization and support are needed to enhance solidarity among member states. We focus on two key elements: more financial support from the EU budget for member states as well as the international community, and an EU mechanism to monitor member states’ contributions to border management and refugee protection. The monitoring mechanism would support a peer review by member states of how common and inter-connected tasks in asylum and migration policy are shared by individual member states in line with the principle of flexible solidarity.