International sanctions and emigration

Abstract

In this first statistical analysis of how international sanctions affect international migration, we apply two estimation strategies, a panel difference-in-differences model and an event study approach. Our dataset covers 79,791 dyad-year observations, reflecting migration flows from 157 origin countries to 32 industrialized destination countries between 1961 and 2018. We find that UN and joint EU-US sanctions increase emigration from target countries by around 20 percent. Our event study results for joint EU-US sanctions imply a gradual increase in emigration throughout a sanction episode. The impact of UN sanctions on international migration is smaller and less persistent. Moreover, the effects are driven by target countries with limited freedom of political expression, where emigration substitutes for the costly voicing of dissent. Finally, there appear to be no systematic gender differences in the migration effect of sanctions.