JDC Literature Review
The JDC literature review contains summaries of recent publications and academic scholarship on issues relating to forced displacement.
Refugees’ Self-selection into Europe: Who Migrates Where?
About 1.4 million refugees and irregular migrants arrived in Europe in 2015 and 2016. The authors model how refugees and irregular migrants are self-selected in terms of their skills and demographic characteristics. The authors provide the first large-scale evidence...
Civilian Resettlement Patterns in Civil War
The predominant approach to forced displacement draws on the ‘push-pull’ model from migration studies, which reasons that the displaced, like migrants, compare the conditions in their home community (security, economic conditions) with those elsewhere when deciding...
Motivation and Opportunity for Conflict-Induced Migration: An Analysis of Syrian Migration Timing
The author examines the timing of conflict-induced migration and why some individuals leave their homes earlier than others. The author reviews the existing research that emphasizes the role of violence in driving civilian migration decisions (either directly by...
Global Study on Smuggling of Migrants 2018
This report presents detailed information about 30 major smuggling routes worldwide, including the magnitude and value of smuggling routes, profiles of smugglers and smuggled migrants, modus operandi of smugglers, and risks faced by smuggled migrants. The report...
Risk and Refugee Migration
This paper examines refugees’ risk preferences using an experimental approach. It also explores whether refugees’ experience of violence may change their attitudes, either exacerbating risk-seeking behavior or diminishing it. Information about the migration decisions...
Risk Preferences and the Decision to Flee Conflict
This paper explores why most people affected by conflict do not migrate. The authors model the distributions of outcomes (in terms of expenditure per capita) for people affected by conflict who decide to stay or leave. The distribution for ‘stayers’ is observable and...
Identifying the Factors Driving West African Migration
Since 2014 over 600,000 African migrants have arrived in Italy via the Central Mediterranean route. The authors note that while migration from West Africa to Europe is increasing, there is ten times as much migration within West Africa than migration to Europe. This...
Darfuri Migration from Sudan to Europe: From Displacement to Despair
This study examines the trends, causes and consequences of migration from Darfur, Sudan to Europe. Key findings include: Migration has long been a livelihood strategy in Darfur. Darfuris have traditionally migrated for work (seasonally or longer-term) and in response...
Climate, Conflict, and Forced Migration
There is growing public interest in climate as a driver of conflict and forced migration, however there is little empirical evidence that demonstrates a causal path from climate to conflict to forced migration. This paper assesses the determinants of refugee flows to...
Asylum Applications Respond to Temperature Fluctuations
There is ongoing debate as to whether climate change has contributed to, and will amplify, migration flows to the European Union from war-affected countries such as Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq. For example, a 2015 study showed that the Syrian conflict was preceded by a...