News Detail

This Jour fixe was organised by Maurizio Strazzeri (Economics; Graduate School “Decision Sciences” / Associated Fellow per Doctoral Fellowship) and John Hoffmann (Literature / Research Visit Fellow).

Maurizio Strazzeri talked about "Human mobility and Internet usage: Evidence from Nigerian micro-level data".

Abstract:
How do modern information and communication technologies (ICT) such as the Internet inflƒuence human mobility? Based on theoretical considerations, the predictions are ambiguous: First, Internet usage aff‚ects the availability of information related to the migration decision, which might either increase or decrease migration distances depending on the type of information received. Second, the large-scale adoption of the Internet around the world has introduced a new form of social interaction which enhances the possibility to maintain strong ties with relatives and friends over long distances and thereby facilitates human mobility. I provide the fi€rst systematic micro-level test of the eff‚ect of Internet usage on migration distances using the comprehensive Geo-coded General Household Survey (GHS) panel from Nigeria. I show that exposure to the Internet is positively associated with an increase in various measures of migration distance. Additionally, I provide evidence for a causal link between Internet usage and migration distance by using the distance to the closest Internet cafe as exogenous source of variation in Internet usage frequency. ThŒe instrumental variable approach largely confi€rms that Internet usage positively a‚ffects migration distances.

John Hoffmann talked about “Beyond the Border: Transnational Film Culture between
Germany and Great Britain".

Abstract:
This talk will address cross-cultural contact between German and British cinema during the interwar and immediate post-war periods. Focusing on the topic of migration, John will discuss various methodological issues in cinema studies before analyzing a film by the German animator Lotte Reiniger, which he will argue illustrates a distinctly “transnational” form of migration.

This Jour Fixe is part of our special event series on "Migration". For more information, please see here.