Github:
https://github.com/hscheewel
Education
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Ph.D. in Economics & Management
Université catholique de Louvain & Université de Liège |
Louvain-la-Neuve & Liège, BE
2017 - 2023 |
M.Sc. in Economics & Society
Université de Liège |
Liège, BE
2015 - 2017 |
B.Sc. in Economics
Universität Bonn |
Bonn, DE
2012 - 2015 |
Research
The Geography of Climate Migration
with Burzynski, M. & F. Docquier
J. Demogr. Econ.
Abstract: We investigate the long-term effects of climate change on the mobility of working-age people. We use a world economy model that covers almost all countries in the world, distinguishes between rural and urban regions as well as
flooded and unflooded areas. The model is calibrated to match international and internal mobility data by education level for the last 30 years, and is then simulated under climate change variants. We endogenize the size, dyadic and skill
structure of climate migration. Considering moderate climate scenarios, we predict mobility responses in the range of 70 to 108 million workers over the course of the 21st century. Most of these movements are local or inter-regional.
South-South international migration responses are smaller, while the South-North migration response is of the "brain drain" type and induces a permanent increase in the stock of foreigners in the OECD countries in the range of 6 to
9% only. Changes in the sea level mainly translate into forced local movements. On the contrary, inter-regional and international movements are sensitive to temperature-related changes in productivity. We finally show that relaxing
international migration restrictions may exacerbate the poverty effect of climate change at origin if policymakers are unable to select/screen individuals in extreme poverty.
Immigration, Welfare and Inequality: How Much Does the Labor Market Specification Matter?
with F. Docquier & B. I. Ikhenaode
Rev. Int. Econ.
Abstract:
General equilibrium models are frequently used to estimate the effect of immigration on welfare and inequality in the host country. Existing studies differ in the way they formalize the labor market implications for natives, which in turn govern the strength of the other transmission mechanisms. To assess the extent to which the choice of the labor market specification influences the findings, we build an encompassing model that distinguishes between broad classes of individuals. We calibrate it for 20 selected OECD member states, and compare several specifications involving different assumptions on labor supply decisions, unemployment rates and wage formation, as well as different calibration strategies. The size and the sign of the average welfare and distributional effects of immigration are robust to the labor market specification. Endogenizing unemployment and participation rates leads to slightly better welfare and distributional results in most OECD countries but overall, adding margins of labor market adjustment barely affects the findings of models based on simpler assumptions.
Immigration, Crime and Social Media: The Impact of Disclosing Nationalities in Police Press Releases
with Erik Haustein & Yannik Schenk
Abstract: This study investigates how police communication about foreigner criminality shapes public discourse on social media in the context of immigration, crime, and political populism. We gather a unique dataset of more than 1.5 million police press releases published by 220 different entities within the German police between 2015 and 2022 and link them to respective conversations on Twitter. Based on a thorough text analysis of press releases and tweets, we uncover the implications of disclosing perpetrators' national origins when reporting on crime. Employing an instrumental variable approach that exploits variations in press release authorship, we isolate the causal effect of naming suspects' nationalities from broader societal factors. Our findings reveal that disclosing nationalities increased the likelihood of police press releases being posted on Twitter, boosted overall user engagement, and triggered an upsurge in hateful posts. Notably, this effect is predominantly driven by the disclosure of perpetrators' nationalities from Muslim-majority countries. We proceed to investigate the impact of a communication policy change towards default reporting of suspects’ nationalities, which was unilaterally implemented in one German state. Our results indicate that the new guideline predominantly led to an increase in press releases featuring German suspects, effectively aligning the ratio of foreigners-to-Germans in press releases with that found in official crime statistics. However, we do not find significant evidence of a systematic change in the reach and tone of discussions surrounding crime news on Twitter. Our results suggest the presence of strong confirmation biases. Individuals selectively search and distribute content related to criminal foreigners leading to sticky narratives on social media.