How do migrants integrate, and what happens when policy does not just regulate but stigmatizes? In this interview, CERGE-EI’s new faculty member Teresa Freitas-Monteiro discusses her current research on migration, cultural backlash, administrative data, and why discriminatory policies can have effects far beyond economics.
Could you tell us about one of your current work-in-progress projects? What question are you trying to answer, and why does it matter?
While there is extensive evidence on how integration policies affect migrants’ economic outcomes, research on the effects of culturally restrictive policies on migrants’ socio-cultural integration has emerged only recently. Even less is known about how anti-immigration rhetoric and stigmatizing labeling practices, which impose no direct pecuniary costs or restrictions, affect the targeted minority. Empirically isolating the impacts of such labels is challenging because governments typically deploy them alongside concrete policy interventions, making it difficult to disentangle the two.
“Socioeconomic integration and residential composition remain unchanged, suggesting that the policy’s stigmatizing nature catalyzed the observed cultural backlash.”
In one of my work-in-progress projects, we provide causal evidence on the consequences of a policy that publicly classified neighborhoods as “Ghettos” and portrayed their non-Western residents as a counter-identity to Danish society and a threat to Danish values and social cohesion. Our results point to a cultural backlash among initial non-Western residents. We find that residents in Ghetto-listed neighborhoods become more likely to give their children foreign-sounding names. This shift was accompanied by lower early childcare enrollment, more traditional gender attitudes, stronger self-identification as an immigrant or as a member of a religious group, and a lower propensity to follow Danish news. Socioeconomic integration and residential composition remain unchanged, suggesting that the policy’s stigmatizing nature catalyzed the observed cultural backlash.
Drawing on your recent articles and working papers, what do you see as the key determinants of the socioeconomic integration trajectories of foreign-born populations, especially refugees in Denmark and immigrants in Germany?
Precisely being foreign-born, but also having a lower education compared to natives.
Data and methodology
What led you to focus specifically on these populations and these country settings?
Germany is a huge country; whatever minority you choose to focus on, there are probably enough people to analyze. It also has good, large-scale surveys that allow for the study of many outcomes beyond the labor market.
Denmark, although small, has received many migrants since the 1960s and has fantastic administrative data.
You often work with longitudinal administrative data and large-scale surveys. How do you approach these datasets in practice, and what makes them especially valuable for your research?
I am not sure there are different ways of approaching datasets. You need to use some programming language; I use STATA by default, although R or Python are better for very large datasets.
I do empirical economics, meaning I always need data. I mostly use natural experiments, which means I need to rely on existing data. You cannot do much with small-scale surveys unless you designed them yourself to answer your specific question.
“Don’t make discriminatory policies.”
Administrative data is valuable because, unlike surveys, you do not need to worry about willingness to reply, attrition, or misreporting. It is great for capturing hard outcomes such as employment or residential decisions. However, it is more difficult if you want to measure culture or preferences. There are creative ways to do it using administrative data, and you can use a revealed-preference argument, but generally you can capture these better in surveys.
How do you try to identify causal effects in this kind of data? What empirical strategies have you found most useful?
The usual ones: regression discontinuity designs and difference-in-differences.
Policy relevance
Would it be fair to say that an important part of your research speaks directly to migration and integration policy? What are the main policy lessons you would want policymakers to take away?
Don’t make discriminatory policies. Create legal routes for immigration and asylum while increasing capacity at immigration and asylum processing centers.
“Consulting only made me realize it wasn’t the type of work I wanted to do.”
What first drew you to economics?
Chance. I wanted to study arts, but thought I would be unemployed. Economics and management in Portugal have very good employment rates. So I made it a take-it-or-leave-it choice: either I enter one of the two best economics schools, or I go to the arts. I guess I got in.
Your career path is remarkably varied: from McKinsey to ESRI, IAB, and experience connected to the banking sector, with research as a recurring thread throughout. Looking back, what were the most formative moments in your research journey?
Consulting only made me realize it wasn’t the type of work I wanted to do. I did not want to scratch the surface of certain topics, but to study them in detail and be confident in what I was saying.
Was it precisely that sustained interest in research that convinced you to pursue an academic career?
Yes.
What motivated you to join CERGE-EI?
Having a joint position with my partner, being in Europe, having a decent salary, and having nice and smart colleagues.
Outside your academic work, what helps you recharge? Do any of your hobbies or interests feed back into your research somehow?
A hobby that feeds back into my research would not really feel like a hobby. I used to paint, which I really love, but it requires a lot of mental space, and now it is on standby since I need to find a place in Prague. I try to do some sports, more out of a health obligation than for pleasure. I really like cinema, although most people would say I have a peculiar taste, and I also enjoy going to art museums, particularly modern art. Other than that, I am a stereotypical southern European: I do not really need active rest, and going out for a beer with friends on a sunny day is a great plan. If we talk about things that occupy no mental space, even better. How else are you supposed to relax?
