Integration of Migrants and Attitudes towards the Welfare State (IMES)

IMES

Focus of the Junior Research Group

Influence of Social Policy and Immigration on Integration
Impact of Immigration on the Labour Market
Interaction of Perceived and Actual Integration with Social Policy

The Junior Research Group “Integration of Migrants and Attitudes towards the Welfare State (IMES)” is funded by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS). It investigates empirically the economic and societal consequences of immigration to Germany in the short, medium and long run. On the one hand, IMES studies predictors for a successful labour market integration of migrants, particularly refugees. On the other hand, IMES studies the impact of immigration on the labour market as well as societal attitudes in the destination country, with a focus on former migrants.

The Junior Research Group is currently working on the project Integration of Migrants and Attitudes Towards the Welfare State (IMES) in cooperation with the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES) and the Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) 884 Political Economy of Reforms at the University of Mannheim, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs as part of the Funding Network for Interdisciplinary Social Policy Research (FIS).

Scientific Advisory Council

Professor Dr. Thomas Bauer
(Ruhr-University of Bochum, Vice President of the RWI - Leibniz-Institute for Economic Research)
Professor Dr. Sebastian Till Braun
(University of Bayreuth)
Professor Romana Careja, PhD
(University of Southern Denmark)
Professor Christian Dustmann, PhD
(University College London and Director of the interdisciplinary Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM))
Professor Maureen A. Eger, PhD
(Umeå University)
Professor Christina Gathmann, PhD
(Luxembourg Institute for Socio-Economic Research (LISER))
Professor Dominik Hangartner, PhD
(ETH Zurich and Co-Director of the Immigration Policy Lab (IPL))
Professor Dr. Irena Kogan
(University of Mannheim)
Professor Dr. Christian Albrekt Larsen
(Director of the Centre for Comparative Welfare Studies, Aalborg University)
Professor Dr. Alexander Schmidt-Catran
(University of Frankfurt)
Professor Andreas Steinmayr, PhD
(University of Innsbruck)
Professor Jan Stuhler, PhD
(University Carlos III, Madrid)

Precedent Projects

The aim of the research project was to assess short-run causal effects of the recent humanitarian immigration to Germany with microeconometric methods and new data sets, in order to provide an objective basis for the refugee debate. Further information can be found on the project page Short-Term Economic and Social Effects of Humanitarian Immigration.

This project investigates whether employees who immigrated to Germany at an earlier point in time have indeed benefited disproportionately from the recent increase of immigration. Further information can be found on the project page Employment Effects of Humanitarian Immigration on Previous Migrant Groups.

The Real-World Laboratory: Asylum Seekers project in the Rhine-Neckar region focused on identifying the factors necessary for the quickest possible social integration of asylum seekers in the towns of Heidelberg, Sinsheim, and Wiesloch. Further information can be found on the project page Real-World Laboratory: Asylum Seekers.