Research

Research priorities: economics of migration and integration, labour economics, family economics, education economics, wage structures, income mobility

Christian Dustmann is an economist and one of the leading scientists in the field of labour market research. He is a Fellow of the Society of Labor Economists, the British Academy as well as the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Dustmann was ranked number one in the 2019 Handelsblatt ranking of all economists from German-speaking countries and German-speaking economists abroad. A renowned expert on the economics of migration, his research covers areas such as the role of language in determining economic and social integration, immigration’s impact on wages, employment, technology, and election outcomes, factors determining attitudes towards immigration, and analysis of segregation and racial harassment. His other research areas include income mobility, wage dynamics and inequality, the economics of crime, the economics of education, social networks in the labour market, and the economics of the family.

Dustmann’s research contributions on migration cover areas such as analysis of immigrants’ careers and the role of language in determining economic and social integration, immigration’s impact on wages, employment, technology, and election outcomes, the effects of welfare reform on immigrants’ social and economic integration, the determinants of attitudes towards immigration policies, and analysis of segregation and racial harassment.

His work on migration has not only opened up new research avenues but also frequently influenced the public debate on immigration. Dustmann’s examination of the fiscal impact of immigration to the UK remains the most thorough in methodology, the broadest in terms of data, and the most specific in results conducted for the UK on this topic to date, and has importantly shaped policy discussions and informed public debate.

The methodology developed in this research was subsequently used, among others, in the influential report by the US National Academy of Sciences Panel on the “Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration”, [Blau & Mackie (eds), 2017]. His recent work with Anderson and Landersø on the effects of welfare cuts to refugees attracted large public attention, led to debates in Parliament, and contributed to establishment of a commission that reviews the social assistance system in Denmark.

Dustmann made also many important contributions to other areas of labour economics. His research was the first to illustrate the dramatic increase in wage inequality in Germany since the mid-1990s, contradicting the dominant view that inequality had increased in Anglo-Saxon countries but not in Germany.

Dustmann further developed this research agenda in the paper “From sick man of Europe to Economic superstar” where he and his co-authors argue that the stark increase in competitiveness of German industry from the mid 1990s onwards was mainly due to Germany’s flexible wage setting institutions and autonomous negotiations between employers and employees rather than the Hartz reforms. This work not only influenced domestic public debate but attracted considerable attention by policy makers abroad. Findings of his recent research, showing that the introduction of the minimum wage in Germany led to re-allocation of workers from low paying, smaller firms to high paying and high productivity firms is highly cited in academic as well as public debate.

Dustmann was the first to provide causal analysis of the effects of increases in maternity leave in Germany on children. His findings that such extensions had no effect on children’s educational and long-term economic outcomes was first controversial but has now been confirmed by follow up studies for many other countries. His work on the economics of crime shows for the first time convincingly that influence of a criminal environment in early adolescence increases criminal activity of young men.

Career

• since 2018 Research Professor, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
• since 2017 Research Professor, The Rockwool Foundation, Copenhagen, Denmark
• 2017 Visiting Professor, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), Stanford University, Stanford, USA
• 2017 Visiting Professor, Cowles Foundation, Yale University, New Haven, USA
• 2016 Visiting Professor, Department of Economics, Bocconi, Milan, Italy
• 2016 Visiting Professor, Department of Economics, Princeton University, Princeton, USA
• 2014 - 2015 Visiting Professor, Department of Economics, Harvard University, Boston, USA
• 2011 Visiting Professor, European University Institute (EUI), Florence, Italy (also 2012 and 2014)
• 2010 Visiting Professor, Research School of Social Sciences (RSSS), Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
• 2009-2014 Scientific Director, NORFACE (New Opportunities for Research Funding Agency Cooperation in Europe) Programme on Migration
• 2005-2006 Part-Time Visiting Professor, Faculty for Economics and Econometrics, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
• since 2004 Professor in Economics, University College London and Founding Director CReAM (Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration), London, UK
• 2004-2007 Visiting Professor, Research School of Social Sciences (RSSS), Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
• 2002-2004 Reader (Associate Professor) in Economics, University College London, UK
• 2001 Visiting Professor/Fellow, Center of Labor Economics, University of Berkeley, San Francisco, USA
• 1999 Visiting Professor, Bonn Graduate School and Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn, Germany
• 1997-1998 Visiting Professor, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
• 1997 Habilitation in Economics and Econometrics, University of Bielefeld, Germany
• 1995 Visiting Fellow, French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), Paris, France
• 1994-2000 Lecturer/Senior Lecturer at the Department of Economics, University College London, UK
• 1992-1994 Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Bielefeld, Germany
• 1992 PhD in Economics, European University Institute (EUI), Florence, Italy
• 1988 MSc in Business Economics, University of Bielefeld, Germany
• 1985 MA in Economics, University of Georgia, Athens, USA
• 1983 BSc in Business Economics, University of Bielefeld, Germany

Functions

• 2019-2021 President of the Asian-Australasian Society of Labour Economists (AASLE)
• since 2016 Elected member of the Council of the Royal Economic Society
• 2014-2017 President of the European Society for Labour Economists (EALE)
• 2014-2016 Adviser of the National Academy of Sciences, Panel on the Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration, USA
• 2011-2013 Adviser of the British Home Office, Economics and Resource Analysis Advisory Group
• 2010-2016 Member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Labour Market Research (IAB)
• 2010-2014 Member of the National Education Panel Survey (NEPS) Scientific Board
• 2008 President of the European Society for Population Economics (ESPE)
• 2006-2008 Member of the British Home Office Advisory Panel

Projects

• 2019-2024 ERC (European Research Council) Advanced Grant “The Migration Challenge: Labour Markets, Policy Reforms, and Social Cohesion”
• 2018-2022 ESRC “The Effects of Business and Payroll Taxes on Firms and Workers: Evidence from linked Employer-Employee Data” (Co-Applicant)
• 2018-2021 DFG Project “The Dynamic Impact of Immigration on Wages, Employment, Technology and Innovation” (Principal Applicant), Part of SPP 1764 “The German Labour Market in a Globalised World: Challenges through Trade, Technology and Demographics”
• 2018-2020 NORFACE Programme “Dynamics of Inequality Across the Life-course”, Project “Populism, Inequality and Institutions” (Co-Applicant)
• 2014-2017 NORFACE Welfare State Programme “Globalisation, Institutions and the Welfare State” (Co-Applicant)
• 2014-2017 DFG Project “The Dynamic Impact of Immigration on Wages, Employment, Technology and Innovation” (Principal Applicant), Part of SPP 1764 “The German Labour Market in a Globalised World: Challenges through Trade, Technology and Demographics”
• 2013-2018 Advanced Grant des ERC “The Dynamics of Migration and Economic Adjustment”

Honours and Memberships

• 2023 Reimar Lüst Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Berlin and Fritz Thyssen Foundation, Cologne, Germany
• 2020 Carl-Friedrich-von-Weizsäcker-Prize by the Stifterverband and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
• since 2017 Elected Fellow, British Academy (FBA)
• since 2017 Elected Fellow, Society of Labor Economists (EALE)
• since 2013 Elected Fellow of the Academia Europaea
• since 2012 Member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
• Research Fellow, Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), London, UK
• Research Associate, Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), London, UK
• Research Associate, Centre for Economic Policy (CEP), London, UK