RFBerlin Podcast Series

In this episode of Working Papers, host Tim Phillips sits down with Prof. Tommaso Frattini (Deputy Director of CReAM at RFBerlin) and Dr. Giacomo Battiston (Senior Research Officer at RFBerlin) to look at what happens before someone decides to migrate. 
Anyone who migrates weighs the costs against the benefits: a journey that can cost thousands USD and carry real risk of violence, set against the promise of higher wages or simply safety. But do people know the true odds before they set out? And when governments respond with tougher borders or information campaigns, does any of it change the decision, or just move it somewhere else?
Drawing on a field experiment with students in Guinea and on evidence from Europe's borders, Frattini and Battiston show that migration isn't a single choice but a chain of them. Better information can genuinely shift the decision: when potential migrants learn the real risks, many become less willing to go. Enforcement is more slippery. When the EU-Turkey deal closed the Eastern Mediterranean route in 2016, migrants didn't stop; within months they reappeared on the deadlier Central Mediterranean crossing. A policy that looks like a success at one border can leave the overall picture unchanged, and the journey more dangerous. As the researchers put it, migration is an investment, costs borne now for benefits hoped for later, sometimes for one's children rather than oneself. To know whether a policy works, you have to follow the whole journey, not just count arrivals at one border.
Resources mentioned in the episode:
📄 Informing Risky Migration: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Guinea, by Giacomo Battiston, Lucia Corno and Eliana La Ferrara
📄 Securing European Borders: Enforcement, Politics and Externalization, by Francesco Fasani and Tommaso Frattini
📄 Rescue on Stage: Border Enforcement and Public Attention in the Mediterranean Sea, by Giacomo Battiston
Learn more about migration research at the Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM) at RFBerlin.
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🎥 YouTube: youtube.com/@RFBerlin

In this episode of Migration Talks, researchers Sandra Sequeira (London School of Economics) and Dominik Hangartner (ETH Zurich) take us into two very different contexts  with surprising parallels. From post-conflict displacement in Mozambique to internal migration policies in post-war Finland, the conversation explores what drives people to move, and what happens when that movement is shaped less by choice than by circumstance.

How does displacement affect long-term human capital? What incentives and policies help or hinder new beginnings? And how do people reconstruct lives, communities, and futures when they’re uprooted?

This episode offers a comparative perspective on forced migration, resettlement, and the enduring resilience of people navigating constrained choices.

Resources mentioned in the episode:
📄 Forced Displacement and Human Capital: Evidence from Separated Siblings, by Giorgio Chiovelli, Stelios Michalopoulos, Elias Papaioannou, and Sandra Sequeira (NBER Working Paper)

📄 The Intergenerational Effects of Forced Migration on Human Capital and Personality Traits, by Dominik Hangartner et al.
 Stay connected:
🌐 Online: rfberlin.com
🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rockwool-foundation-berlin
🐦 X/Twitter: @RF_Berlin
🎥 YouTube: youtube.com/@RFBerlin

In this episode of Migration Talks, Professor Leah Boustan (Princeton University) explores what shapes upward mobility for immigrants and who actually gets to rise.
Using research, historical records, big data and today’s technology, Boustan takes us through the story of how immigrants and their children find their path. What do we get wrong when we idealize past success stories? How do today’s children of immigrants compare to previous generations? And what role do education, neighborhoods and policy play in shaping long-term outcomes?
Resources mentioned:
Book: Streets of Gold: America’s Untold Story of Immigrant Success (Leah Boustan & Ran Abramitzky)
Research: Computational analysis of 140 years of US political speeches
reveals more positive but increasingly polarized framing of
immigration by Boustan et al.
 Stay connected:
🌐 Online: rfberlin.com
🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rockwool-foundation-berlin
🐦 X/Twitter: @RF_Berlin
🎥 YouTube: youtube.com/@RFBerlin

In this episode, Panu Poutvaara (ifo Center for Migration and Development Economics) and Damla Buyuktaskin (UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency) discuss what happens after displacement: who returns, who stays, and why?

Focusing on Ukrainian refugees and broader global contexts, they discuss what influences return intentions, how host countries support (or hinder) integration, and the challenges of creating long-term solutions for displaced populations. From access to work and education to regional legal frameworks, this conversation lists difficult choices faced by millions.

Resources mentioned in the episode:
📄 Study: The Effect of Conflict on Ukrainian Refugees’ Return Intentions and Integration Outcomes (Poutvaara et al.)

🌐 UNHCR Programs: https://www.unhcr.org
 Stay connected:
🌐 Online: rfberlin.com
🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rockwool-foundation-berlin
🐦 X/Twitter: @RF_Berlin
🎥 YouTube: youtube.com/@RFBerlin

In this episode, Christian Dustmann (UCL, RFBerlin) and Tommaso Frattini (University of Milan, RFBerlin) discuss the politics of EU border control. As headlines increasingly focus on “securing borders,” they ask: Are these efforts really addressing the underlying challenges, or are they shaped more by public perception and political pressure?

From shifting migration routes to policy trade-offs between security and economic needs, this conversation offers timely insights into one of Europe’s most debated topics.

Resources mentioned in the episode:
📘 Global Migration Information Dashboard
📄 "Border Policies and Unauthorized Flows" by Francesca Fasani & Tommaso Frattini
 Stay connected:
🌐 Online: rfberlin.com
🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/rockwool-foundation-berlin
🐦 X/Twitter: @RF_Berlin
🎥 YouTube: youtube.com/@RFBerlin