Scientific Presentations
LabTalks@DCD
Department of Digital and Computational Demography
Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), Rostock, Germany, April 30, 2025
11:00 AM: Talk with Giacomo Battiston - Fertility: the impact of social norms after forced migration
Room 400 and Zoom
Abstract
Migrants often exhibit different fertility patterns compared to natives but tend to converge toward native fertility levels over time. This paper examines the role of descriptive social norms in driving this convergence through a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) that delivers an information intervention to Syrian refugees in Türkiye. We survey 1,600 migrants about their fertility choices, intentions, and beliefs. Participants are divided into three groups: one-third receive information about the fertility choices and intentions of Syrian migrants in Türkiye (T1), one-third receive the same information about Turkish natives (T2), and one-third receive no information (control group). Both treatments lead to an immediate reduction in the perceived fertility intentions of natives, as well as a decrease in the ideal number of children of migrants, with T2 having a larger effect. Additionally, T2 reduces short- and medium-term intentions to have a child by between 1/3 and 1/5 of the control group’s mean. Both treatments—especially T2—increase the likelihood of fearing social stigma for having too many children. The effects on fertility intentions are stronger among men and religious individuals, while the effects on perceived stigma are more pronounced among religious and highly conformist individuals.
About
Giacomo Battiston is a Senior Research Officier at the ROCKWOOL Foundation in Berlin and a Research Associate of the Berlin School of Economics. His interests span over political economy and labor economics, with a particular focus on the economics of migration. In his work, he applies structural econometric models and experiments to broad questions in political economy and migration. You can find his website here: https://giacomobattiston.com/.
Register to Take Part
You would like to attend the Online Seminar Talk? You are very welcome. Please register by writing an e-mail to office-zagheni@demogr.mpg.de.
Online Seminar Talk, April, 30th from 11:00 a.m. to 12 p.m. (Rostock time)