The Impact of Culture on Migrant Integration: Socioeconomic Meta-Analysis of the Epidemiological Literature [CULTIMA]

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We request funding for a meta-analysis on the effects of cultural background on immigrant behavior. The question of how quickly and to what extent migrants integrate and, possibly, assimilate to the host country is of high political, social, and economic importance. Accordingly, empirical investigations have been developing rapidly, with parallel but mostly dis-connected research in economics and sociology. The body of literature is becoming increasingly hard to summarize, for several reasons: First, results are diverse and overall inconclusive. Second, studies differ substantially in research design, e.g., with respect to data, sample selection, and modelling. Third, selective migration and institutional barriers to integration, such as discrimination, are empirical challenges that hinder the identification of causal effects.Our proposed meta-analysis provides a comprehensive and systematic synthesis of the literature, pushing the limits of mono-disciplinary research on this inherently interdiscipli-nary topic. Meta-analytic tools will help us to assess and interpret inconclusive findings. Thereby we can test and, if necessary, correct for publication bias (the possibility that only statistically significant results of the expected sign are published) in research on source country effects on immigrant behavior. A meta-regression will allow us to explore methodological heterogeneity and draw more universal conclusions on the relationship between ancestry culture and individual behavior than primary studies are able to provide. Finally, our project contributes to assessing the extent of a possible bias in measuring causal effects due to empirical challenges.