The Impact of Culture on Migrant Integration: Socioeconomic Meta-Analysis of the Epidemiological Literature [CULTIMA]
Final Report Abstract
This project aims to advance the scientific understanding of the economic and social integration of people with migration backgrounds, particularly with regard to the persistent influence of their culture of origin. For this purpose, we are constructing a comprehensive meta-data set of the economic and social science literature that uses the "epidemiological approach" (Fernández 2011) to quantify cultural influences in the behavior of people with migration background. The epidemiological approach examines (conditional) correlations between the behavior of immigrants and their descendants in the host society on the one hand, and quantitative indicators of cultural contexts in the countries of origin on the other. One of the earliest applications was provided by Fernández and Fogli (2006), who demonstrate a positive relationship between the number of children of second-generation immigrant women in the USA and fertility rates in their countries of origin. Although this methodological approach is used in both economics and sociology - albeit under different names - the two disciplines have barely integrated their findings so far. Our project therefore brings together evidence from both research directions in an interdisciplinary synthesis. The result is a systematic, analytic summary of 147 empirical studies, that would have been out of scope of a conventional narrative literature. Beyond synthesizing this wealth of information, we address three central methodological challenges of the epidemiological approach: First, we analyze how selective migration based on cultural norms and values distorts the measurement of cultural influences. Second, we explore how formal and informal institutions of the host society moderate the relationship between behavior and cultural origin. Here, we consider that families with migration backgrounds face different integration barriers depending on immigration policy and societal attitudes in the host countries. Third, we systematically examine the extent to which epidemiological studies - similar to many research corpora in the social and economic sciences - are subject to publication bias, where statistically non-significant results are less likely to be published. The results of our project feed into the social debate on integration: They contribute to a more nuanced understanding of cultural influences and help to critically question prevalent judgments about the role of cultural heritage. By systematically addressing methodological challenges, we also improve the scientific foundation for an objective examination of the interplay between cultural factors and structural conditions in the integration process.
Publications
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Culture, female labour force participation, and selective migration: new meta-analytic evidence. WiSo-HH Working Paper Series, No. 65. University of Hamburg, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences, WISO Research Laboratory. ISSN 2196-8128
Markowsky, E.
