1/ Excited to share our new paper, “Can foreign aid reduce the desire to emigrate? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial,” w/ Cassilde Schwartz (@rhulpirp) & @profdavidhudson (@iddbirmingham) — published in @AJPSeditor! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/CFSFRF... - ThreadSky

mirandasimon.bsky.social • 9 days ago

1/ Excited to share our new paper, “Can foreign aid reduce the desire to emigrate? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial,” w/ Cassilde Schwartz (@rhulpirp) & @profdavidhudson (@iddbirmingham) — published in @AJPSeditor! https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/CFSFRF3V5AWJXQI94CSY?target=10.1111/ajps.12927

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mirandasimon.bsky.social•9 days ago

2/ Govts often use foreign aid to tackle the “root causes” of irregular migration, but does it work? And if so, how? We examined this using a youth employment program (YEP) – a representative type of “root causes aid” (RCA) project implemented by @UNMigration in Gambia to reduce irregular migration.

mirandasimon.bsky.social•9 days ago

3/ Our RCT showed the program temporarily reduced migration aspirations and planning. How? By strengthening participants' sense of instrumental attachment to the origin country: they felt more able to achieve their goals locally.

mirandasimon.bsky.social•9 days ago

4/ That a small program increased instrumental place attachment was remarkable. The program also boosted self-sufficiency and self-efficacy, but these alone didn’t lower migration aspirations. The real driver was instrumental place attachment — though, unfortunately, this effect was short-lived.

mirandasimon.bsky.social•9 days ago

5/ Interviews w/ practitioners and young Gambian entrepreneurs gave us insight into some constraints: The project helped participants navigate gov’t regulations and build local networks, which increased instrumental attachment. But sustaining that attachment over time remains challenging.

mirandasimon.bsky.social•9 days ago

6/ These findings shed light on the psychological connections between development aid and migration decisions. While “root causes” aid can shift aspirations briefly, keeping up these effects is tough amid global inequalities.

mirandasimon.bsky.social•9 days ago

8/ Big thanks to @UNMigration for their patience with evaluation logistics and invaluable insights. Also grateful to @FCDOGovUK for generous funding and support! This work is part of the MIGCHOICE project led by @Prof_RBlack and Dr. Christina Oelgemoller.

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