Publications

Belonging or Estrangement – the European Refugee Crisis and its Effects on Immigrant Identity (2023)

(published in the European Journal of Political Economy)

This study examines the impact of the 2015 European Refugee Crisis on the ethnic identity of resident migrants in Germany. To derive plausibly causal estimates, I exploit the quasi-experimental setting in Germany, by which refugees are allocated to different counties by state authorities without being able to choose their locations themselves. This study finds that higher shares of refugees in a county increased migrants’ attachment to their home countries, while not affecting their perceived belonging to Germany. Further analyses uncover strong heterogeneities with respect to country of origin and suggest that concerns about xenophobia, experiences of discrimination, and the consumption of foreign media contributed to these effects. Lastly, I find that changes in ethnic identity coincide with the political polarization of migrants.  

Published Version    Working Paper

Local far-right demonstrations and nationwide public attitudes toward migration (with Teresa Freitas Monteiro)

(published in the Journal of Behavior & Organization)

One of the primary objectives of protests and demonstrations is to bring social, political, or economic issues to the attention of politicians and the wider population. While protests can have a mobilising and persuading effect, they may reduce support for their cause if they are perceived as a threat to public order. In this study, we look at how local or spontaneously organised right-wing xenophobic demonstrations affect concerns about hostility towards foreigners and worries about immigration among natives in Germany. We use a regression discontinuity design to compare the attitudes of individuals interviewed in the days immediately before a large far-right demonstration and individuals interviewed in the days immediately after that demonstration. Our results show that large far-right demonstrations lead to a substantial increase in worries about hostility towards foreigners of 13.7% of a standard deviation. In contrast, worries about immigration are not affected by the demonstrations, indicating that the protesters are not successful in swaying public opinion in their favour. In the heterogeneity analyses, we uncover some polarisation in the population: While worries about hostility against foreigners increase and worries about immigration decrease in left-leaning regions, both types of worries increase in districts where centre-right parties are more successful. Lastly, we also show that people become more politically interested in response to protests, mainly benefiting left-wing parties, and are more likely to wish to donate money to help refugees.

Published Version    Working Paper

Work in Progress

The Bitter Taste of Unemployment – Evidence from Layoffs in Germany (with Max Steinhardt)

Feeling Equal before the Law? The Impact of Naturalization and Legal Status on Perceived Discrimination (with Adriana Cardozo Silva)

 Policy Reports

Geflüchtete in Deutschland fühlten sich in der Corona-Pandemie stärker diskriminiert als zuvor (DIW Wochenbericht 18/2022 with Adriana Cardozo & Sabine Zinn)