IMI Working Papers

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No. 196 | 2026

From Involuntary Immobility to Mobility Struggles: Aspirational and Behavioural Pathways under Mobility Constraints

Josef Neubauer, Naiara Rodríguez-Peña, Lea Müller-Funk, Sorana Toma, Mathias Czaika

involuntary immobility, mobility struggle, migration aspirations, temporality

No. 195 | 2026

What Matters in Migrants’ Decision-Making? Insights from the Migration Journeys along Africa and Europe

María-Jesús Cabezón-Fernández, Simona Vezzoli, Dominique Jolivet, Filip Savatic, Juan David Sempere Souvannavong, María Virgen Pérez Mateos

migration decision-making, migration drivers, transit, regular migration, irregular migration, agency, capabilities, capital, Africa, Europe

No. 194 | 2026

Social Transformation, Social Protection, and (Im)mobility Aspirations in Six African Cities

Dominique Jolivet, Simona Vezzoli, Zoulikha Benkaakaa, Mariá-Jesús Cabezón-Fernández, Ismail Misbahu, Filip Savatic, Juan David Sempere Souvannavong

migration decision-making, Social transformation, social protection, urbanization, economic restructuring, immobility

No. 193 | 2026

Understanding Public Ambivalence about Immigration: The Role of Legal Heuristics

Anne-Marie Jeannet and Marcela Rubio

Migration Policy, legal heuristics, public opinion

No. 192 | 2026

The Capability to Stay: New Directions for the Aspiration-Capability Framework in Migration Research

Kerilyn Schewel

Migration, Development, capability approach, Immobility, Capability to Stay, Environmental Change

No. 191 | 2026

Preaching to the Choir: The Impact of Restrictive Migration Policies and Information Campaigns on Aspirations to Migrate

Antoine Pécoud and Filip Savatic

migration aspirations, migration information campaigns, migration drivers, securitization, externalization

No. 190 | 2026

Social Norms and Migration: Evidence from Ethiopia and Nigeria

Ralitza Dimova and Hanna Fromell

migration, social norms, intra-household bargaining power, aspirations, migration probability

No. 189 | 2025

The Societal Determinants of Climate Risk: A Refugee Corridor Analysis of Hazard Exposure, Vulnerability and Coping Capacity

Sonja Fransen and Kerilyn Schewel

climate risk, forced migration, refugee, vulnerability, migration corridors, climate hazards

No. 188 | 2025

The Counter-Judicialization of Migration and Asylum Controls: Safe Third Country in Comparative Context

Geoffrey Cameron, Kiran Banerjee

judicialization, counter-judicialization, asylum policy, immigration control

No. 187 | 2025

Tracing the Early Origins of Africa’s Migration Transition: From Precolonial Times to the Present

Michiel de Haas, Ewout Frankema

African migration, mobility transition theory, colonial history, Sub-Saharan Africa, development

No. 186 | 2025

Theorising Mobility Transitions and Social Transformation: Evidence from Five Case Studies

Kerilyn Schewel, Hein de Haas, Simona Vezzoli

mobility transition, migration, development, social transformation, aspiration, capability, case study research

No. 185 | 2025

Between Knowledge and Assumptions: The Migrant in the Eyes of the Policymaker

Katharina Natter, Riccardo Biggi, Niels Ike , Merel van Assem

Evidence-based Policymaking, Knowledge, Migration Policy, Assumptions, Narratives, Decision-making, Migrant Behavior

No. 184 | 2025

The Implications of Welfare Generosity and Welfare Access for Migration Strategies

Martin Guzi, Lucia Mýtna Kureková

welfare generosity, welfare access, migration flow, African migration, return migration

No. 183 | 2024

Mapping Global Migration Governance

Antoine Pécoud

migration governance, migration politics, global migration

No. 182 | 2024

Non-Migration Policies and Mobility Decisions

Oliver Bakewell , Lucia Mýtna Kureková , Lucia Kováčová

migration, policy, mobility, decision-making, agriculture, transport, education, social welfare

No. 181 | 2024

Changing the Migration Narrative: On the Power of Discourse, Propaganda and Truth Distortion

Hein de Haas

migration policy, migration narratives, public engagement

No. 180 | 2024

The Impact of Covid-19 on NGOs’ Provision of Primary Healthcare and Its Utilisation by Irregular Migrants in Italy

Giulia Mori

Covid-19, Healthcare, Irregular migration, Italy, NGOs

No. 179 | 2024

Researching the Politics of Knowledge in Migration Policy

Katharina Natter

migration policy, knowledge, power

No. 178 | 2024

Researching Decisions to Stay and Migrate: A Temporal Multilevel Analysis framework

Simona Vezzoli, Lucia Mýtna Kureková, Kerilyn Schewel

migration decision-making, social change, life course, migration models

No. 177 | 2023

Immigration attitudes, national identity, and development in mainland China

Tabitha Speelman

immigrant reception, development, migrant privilege, Global South, China