Investing in Solutions-Focused Research to Make Migration Work

Stanford Impact Labs (SIL) is delighted to announce a $2.5 million Stage 3: Amplify Impact investment over five years to support the solutions-focused, partnership-based work of Stanford’s Immigration Policy Lab (IPL). 

With branches at Stanford University and ETH Zurich, IPL produces critical evidence and drives policy innovation by conducting research that generates and tests solutions to maximize the benefits of migration for host communities, asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants alike. 

IPL’s portfolio of solutions-focused research centers on refugee and migrant integration, looking at both the drivers and impact of migration. 

“An enormous number of people are on the move today, and we know that the impact migrants have on host countries and local communities is far-reaching—touching the economy, the culture, the education system, the healthcare system, and more,” notes Jens Hainmueller, IPL’s faculty co-director.

“Our goal is to unlock data-driven solutions to address that reality. We work hand in hand with governments and immigrant service providers to address the critical questions they have around what works and what doesn’t.”

The lab’s interdisciplinary team of data scientists, public policy experts, and social scientists leverage large datasets, creative research designs, and cutting-edge analytical tools to bring new evidence and insights to bear on the factors that enhance migrant integration and social cohesion. 

Stage 3 funding from SIL will support IPL to (1) test additional lines of inquiry around barriers to legal and productive migration for seasonal workers in West Africa, (2) advance the use of data in improving integration of refugees and migrants in the U.S., and (3) secure pathways for urban refugees to develop livelihoods while strengthening social cohesion between refugees and host entrepreneurs in Kenya.

“Though varied in geographic focus, the body of solutions-focused projects IPL is leading all emphasize one critical thing: the development of empirical evidence that delivers actionable insights for policymakers, service providers, and humanitarian organizations,” notes Pallavi Trikutam, senior program officer at Stanford Impact Labs. “This is a lab with a demonstrated track record of success poised to run multiple research and development (R&D) cycles around a common impact-focused research agenda.”

In 2021, IPL received Stage 2 funding from Stanford Impact Labs to design, test, and scale an algorithm-based tool to help government partners to match new immigrants to locations where they are likely to be most successful. The tool, called GeoMatch, has since been deployed in pilot tests in Switzerland, the Netherlands, and in the U.S. with Global Refuge. IPL is also working with the Canadian government to develop a version of the tool to assist economic migrants and hope to expand the U.S.-based tool to three additional resettlement agencies next year.

“What gets a lot of attention when it comes to migration is the political controversy that surrounds it. What doesn’t get nearly enough attention is the evidence gap related to migration,” notes James Hamilton, interim faculty co-director of Stanford Impact Labs. 

“We know millions of people are leaving home every year and we know that changes in global patterning show no signs of slowing. What is urgently needed at this moment is what IPL excels at: developing data-driven ways to make migration work for policymakers, immigrant service providers, host communities, and migrants.”

Stage 3: Amplify Impact funding from Stanford Impact Labs (SIL) is designed to supercharge Stanford research teams that have a demonstrated track record of successful partnership-based research and development (R&D) cycles and are ready to take their work to the next level. Stage 3 funding supports teams to either put specific insights to use across multiple contexts at scale (Track A), or run multiple R&D cycles across multiple different insights around a common impact-focused research agenda (Track B). The 2024 Stage 3 investment in Immigration Policy Lab (IPL) is a Track B award.