IBS Seminar Series: Migration and Economic Coercion

Brenden Connell, Samantha Moya, Adrian Shin

Abstract: The dominant narrative on economic coercion focuses on institutional, cultural, and reputational factors to explain why some countries use economic sanctions as a foreign policy tool. In this article, we argue that the linkage between economic sanctions and migration is an important consideration for potential sanction givers. Economic sanctions often increase the economic distress on the target country, which in turn causes more people to migrate to countries where their co-ethnics reside. Countries that host a large number of nationals from the target country face a disproportionately high level of migration pressure when sanctions increase emigration from the target country. Hence, policymakers of these countries oppose economic sanctions on the target country as an attempt to reduce migration. Analyzing the sanctions bills in the European Parliament from 2011 to 2015, we find empirical support for our prediction.

Bios:

Brendan J. Connell is a PhD student in the Political Science department at CU Boulder. His research agenda lies within international political economy (IPE) and examines government responses to economic crises and globalization. Prior to CU, he studied International Affairs (M.A.) at American University in Washington DC and international trade law at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland.

Samantha L. Moya is a doctoral student of Political Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. Samantha received her BA in Political Science from the University of New Mexico in December 2013. She majored in Political Science, with a minor in Philosophy. Her undergraduate research analyzed the effects of economic globalization on women’s political and economic equality. Samantha currently studies international and comparative political economy (IPE/CPE), with a focus on trade and migration, and their political ramifications in society.

Adrian J. Shin (Ph.D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2016) specializes in comparative and international political economy (CPE/IPE) with an emphasis on the political economy of international migration. His broad research agenda examines the causes and consequences of economic globalization, including the determinants of immigration policy and the political consequences of factor mobility. His research on immigration policy has been funded by the National Science Foundation.