Title: IECO-250/IPEC-250 Quantitative Research Lab

The Quantitative Research Lab provides the opportunity for 14 students to work in pairs on original research papers on topics related to international migration. Students will co-author a paper using quantitative methods to test innovative hypotheses using either micro or macro-level data. This seminar will provide students the opportunity to explore a research question in depth with the goal towards presenting the findings at a conference and perhaps eventually publishing a research paper. Each student will work as part of a research cluster in the class. The broad research themes for the course are:

1. the impact of immigration on elections and political outcomes: Recent papers have shown that the arrival of immigrants can have a significant impact on elections/political outcomes, for example in the United States, in the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom, in Italy, etc. Yet the economics literature has not yet explored important questions such as: how do naturalized immigrants from different countries of origin vote and why? what is the impact of immigration on election outcomes in low and middle-income countries? what is the relative importance of the direct vs. indirect political effect of immigration (the indirect effect is the impact of immigrants on how natives vote; the direct effect is the impact of immigrants due to their different political preferences relative to native voters.) Papers related to this theme will be based on data (and its extensions) from Mayda, Peri and Steingress (2020).
2. The political economy of immigration policy: Immigration policy decisions are endogenous and depend on public opinion, interest groups dynamics, policymakers preferences and the institutional structure of government. The economics literature has investigated the drivers of public opinion on immigrants across individuals and countries, the role played by sector-level interest groups, the patterns in elected officials voting on migration bills, etc. Important unanswered questions include: What drives the change over time in public opinion towards immigration? What is the most effective intervention to change attitudes and resulting behavior? What explains the recent dramatic changes in migration policy decisions in the United States? Papers related to this theme will be based on data (and its extensions) on attitudes towards immigrants from public opinion surveys (such as in Mayda (2006) and Facchini and Mayda (2009), on micro-level data on lobbying expenditure on immigration (such as from Mayda et al 2020), and on election outcomes and immigration from Mayda, Peri and Steingress (2020).
3. The role of immigrants at the time of Covid: Anecdotal evidence shows that, at the time of the current (Covid) and future pandemics, destination countries (will) need migrants, from an economic point of view, even more than at normal times. For example, migrants tend to be over-represented in essential sectors and occupations such as food production, elderly and health care, medical research and innovation. Important questions need to be answered: To what extent have migrants’ incentives to move been affected by Covid and how does this affect their role at the time of Covid? How has Covid affected migrants’ presence in essential sectors and occupations (in particular agriculture, elderly care and health care, medical research and innovation)? What has been the impact of Covid on the food supply chain, in light of the role played by immigrants? Papers related to this theme will use recent data on Covid and immigration.

Credits: 3
Prerequisites: Students must have a willingness to use Stata software and come to class with an interest in applying quantitative methods to their research. Stata licenses are now available to undergraduates for free through UIS, and accepted students should request a license before the first class meeting. Accepted students should have taken Econometrics or take it in the Spring 2021.

Application Requirements: DEADLINE: Sunday, November 29th, by midnight. Email the following 3 items to bsfsdeans@georgetown.edu, with the subject heading of “STUDENT NAME- MAJOR or INTENDED MAJOR: Spring 2021 Quant Research Lab Application” (eg Jack Hoyasaxa-IPEC: Spring 2021 Quant Research Lab Application) (1) A previously written paper which highlights your analytical abilities and writing skills. (2) A brief statement (150 words maximum) on which of the three broad themes you are interested in, why, and which specific aspect you would like to analyze; (3) Unofficial Transcript.

Notification: Applicants who are accepted into the class will be notified in early December. In the meantime, students should schedule classes for the spring keeping the Mon/Wed 9:30AM-10:45AM time open or flexible. The specific topic of each paper is subject to change, based on student coauthors’ interests and the professors’ suggestions.