Toman Barsbai

Associate Professor, School of Economics, University of Bristol

My research interests are in development and culture, focusing on (i) the causes and consequences of international migration and (ii) the origins and economic implications of preferences and behavior around the world. I combine experimental and observational micro-level data, which I collect in the field or archives. I am affiliated with J-PAL and the French Collaborative Institute on Migration. I am also a member of the expert council of the Department of Migrant Workers of the Philippines.


Current research

Family-sponsored Migration, with Sebastian Kupek and Andreas Steinmayr

Humans as Animals: The Natural Geography of Economic Behavior, with Andreas Pondorfer and Dieter Lukas

Exit and Voice: Germany 1848-1933, with Hillel Rapoport

I am also proud to be working with Malengo, where I lead the research team


Publications

Picture This: Social Distance and the Mistreatment of Migrant Workers, with Vojta Bartos, Victoria Licuanan, Andreas Steinmayr, Erwin Tiongson and Dean Yang
Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics, accepted 

Immigrating into a Recession, with Andreas Steinmayr and Christoph Winter
Journal of Labor Economics, forthcoming

Information and Immigrant Settlement, with Victoria Licuanan, Andreas Steinmayr, Erwin Tiongson and Dean Yang
Journal of Development Economics, 170: 103305, 2024.

Overconfidence and Risk-Taking in the Field: Evidence from Ethiopian Farmers, with Ulrich Schmidt and Ulrike Zirpel
Economic Development and Cultural Change, 70(3): 1065-1102, 2022.

Local Convergence of Behavior across Species, with Dieter Lukas and Andreas Pondorfer
Science, 371(6526): 292-295, 2021.

Gender Differences in Stereotypes of Risk Preferences: Experimental Evidence from a Matrilineal and a Patrilineal Society, with Andreas Pondorfer and Ulrich Schmidt
Management Science, 63(10): 3268-3284, 2017.

The Effect of Labor Migration on the Diffusion of Democracy: Evidence from a Former Soviet Republic, with Hillel Rapoport, Andreas Steinmayr and Christoph Trebesch
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 9(3): 36-69, 2017.

Comments on “Migration and Development: The Diaspora Externality” [French version: Commentaires sur “Migration et développement: les externalités de la diaspora”]
Revue d’économie du développement (EUDN conference issue), 25: 69-73, 2017.

Corrupt Governments Do Not Receive More State-to-State Aid: Governance and the Delivery of Foreign Aid through Non-State Actors, with Martin Acht and Rainer Thiele
Journal of Development Economics, 114: 20-33, 2015.

The Drivers of Diaspora Donations for Development: Evidence from the Philippines, with Victoria Licuanan and Andreas Steinmayr
World Development, 65: 94-109, 2015.

The Employment Effects of Immigration: Evidence from the Mass Arrival of German Expellees in Post-War Germany, with Sebastian Braun
Journal of Economic History, 74(1): 69-108, 2014.

Does Prime-Age Mortality Reduce Per-Capita Household Income? Evidence from Rural Zambia, with Rainer Thiele
World Development, 45: 51-62, 2013.

The Economics of Human Trafficking and Labor Migration: Micro-Evidence from Eastern Europe, with Christoph Trebesch
Journal of Comparative Economics, 38(2): 173-188, 2010.

Is Corporate Aid Targeted to Poor and Deserving Countries? A Case Study of Nestlé’s Aid Allocation, with Laura Metzger and Peter Nunnenkamp
World Development, 38(3): 228-243, 2010.

Shocks, Structural Change, and the Patterns of Income Diversification in Burkina Faso, with Jann Lay and Ulrich Narloch
African Development Review (AERC-Cornell conference issue), 21(1): 36-58, 2009.

Few Opportunities, Much Desperation: The Dichotomy of Non-Agricultural Activities and Inequality in Western Kenya, with Jann Lay and Michuki M’Mukaria
World Development, 36(12): 2713-2732, 2008.


Policy

Pre-departure Policies for Migrants: Evidence from Two RCTs with Migrants from the Philippines, with Victoria Licuanan, Andreas Steinmayr, Erwin Tiongson and Dean Yang, 2020.

A Randomized Evaluation of Enhanced Pre-Departure Orientation Seminars for Labor Migrants from the Philippines to Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, with Vojta Bartos, Victoria Licuanan, Andreas Steinmayr, Erwin Tiongson and Dean Yang, 3ie project report, 2020.

A Randomized Evaluation of Enhanced Pre-Departure Orientation Seminars for Permanent Migrants from the Philippines to the U.S., with Victoria Licuanan, Andreas Steinmayr, Erwin Tiongson and Dean Yang, 3ie project report, 2020.

Pre-Departure Policies for Migrants’ Origin Countries, PEGNet Policy Brief No. 14, 2018.

The EU Needs to Fundamentally Reform Its Asylum System, with Sebastian Braun, Baltic Rim Economies, 2017.

20 Solution Proposals for the G20, with many other colleagues from the T20 engagement group, 2017.

Besser ankommen nach der Flucht, with Hillel Rapoport, op-ed in the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), 2016. [English version: Transforming Exodus into Homecoming]

Asylrecht des Stärkeren, with Sebastian Braun, op-ed in the German daily die tageszeitung (taz), 2016. [English version: Making the Asylum System More Efficient and More Humane]

30 Years of Schengen: Internal Blessing, External Curse, with Esther Ademmer, Matthias Lücke and Tobias Stöhr, Kiel Policy Brief No. 88, 2015.

Migration and Development: More Opportunities than Risks, with Marcus Böhme and Rainer Thiele, KfW Meinungsforum Entwicklungspolitik No. 8, 2011. [German version: Migration und Entwicklung: Mehr Chancen als Risiken]

International Labor Migration Beyond the Global Recession: Towards Development-Friendly Migration Policies, with Aslihan Arslan, Alexandra Effenberger and Matthias Lücke, Kiel Policy Brief No. 10, 2009.

Labor Migration and Remittances in Moldova: Is the Boom Over?, with Matthias Lücke and Andreas Steinmayr, report for the International Organization for Migration, 2009.

Patterns and Trends of Migration and Remittances in Moldova, with Matthias Lücke and Pia Pinger, report for the International Organization for Migration, 2007.