Overview
The world is on the move. Driven by economic opportunity, conflict, and climate change, global migration hit record highs in 2024—making it one of the most pressing and multifaceted challenges of our time.
In the United States and other countries, migration policy has become a flashpoint amidst polarized public narratives. There is an urgent need for rigorous, nonpartisan research to inform effective and equitable policies.
With an interdisciplinary team grounded in quantitative rigor, AidData is bringing better evidence to bear and generating actionable insights for policy makers on top migration issues.
Focus Areas
Remittances
These under-studied financial flows support millions in developing economies. How do remittances really impact economic resilience and social mobility?
Leveraging our proven expertise in economic analysis, household surveys, and tracking underreported financial data, AidData is investigating the dynamics and impacts of the nearly $1 trillion in remittances sent across the world each year.
We're generating evidence-based recommendations for policy makers to help maximize the economic and social impact of remittance flows on:
- labor market participation
- education attainment
- household stability, especially during economic downturns
We're focusing in particular on countries like Yemen, the Philippines, India, and Mexico, where remittances make up a significant share of GDP and play a crucial role in household survival and local development.
Internally Displaced People and Refugees
Displacement doubled globally over the last decade, as millions sought refuge. What will happen long-term?
How do we untangle the complex dynamics of forced migration? How should host countries manage the socioeconomic impacts of displacement? And what is the long-term outlook for people who are forcibly displaced?
AidData is combining household survey data with rigorous econometric analysis to answer these questions—uncovering how displacement affects access to education, employment, and healthcare for refugees, as well as the impacts on communities that welcome them.
We produce evidence-based recommendations for governments, humanitarian groups, and development agencies to help displaced populations, while reducing the economic and social strain on host communities. We're focused on ongoing crises in Ukraine, Sudan/South Sudan, the DRC, and Colombia, where displacement is widespread and both long-term and short-term solutions are urgently needed.
South-South Labor Migration
Migration between Global South countries is a growing share of global migration—though the true scale is largely guesswork.
Since Covid, South-South migration has outpaced migration from the Global South to the Global North. The Gulf–South Asia corridor is now the world's largest migration corridor, where millions of low-wage workers face exploitative conditions and limited labor protections. Yet the international community lacks evidence on how policy design shapes migration costs, contract enforcement, remittance behavior, and migrant well-being.
AidData is generating policy-relevant evidence on South-South labor migration by mapping high-volume corridors, analyzing recruitment practices, and modeling the economic impacts of migration governance reforms.
Our research equips governments, international organizations, and advocacy coalitions with actionable insights to enhance labor protections, develop ethical recruitment systems, and establish migration systems that benefit workers—not just states.
Migration to the U.S.: Departure to Displacement
We're mapping how conflict, climate shocks, and border policies influence and reshape migrant pathways over time.
New migration corridors are emerging, with many directed toward the U.S. Economic and political crises in countries like Venezuela, plus instability in Central America, are shifting the makeup of migrants, as increasing numbers travel north from regions that previously had lower out-migration.
AidData is combining cutting-edge analysis of geospatial data and social network theory to examine how and why people move, when and where they chose to relocate, the routes they take (including irregular and dangerous pathways like the Darién Gap), and the often precarious role of transit countries.
We're also investigating how family networks, border policies, securitization, and third-country agreements shape decisions and outcomes for U.S.-bound migrants.
Legal Status, Citizenship, and Integration
Better research is needed on how to streamline pathways, reduce bureaucratic barriers, and ensure equitable access to services.
Legal status can make all the difference in determining migrant outcomes. How someone enters a country—such as through asylum, family reunification, or temporary protection—can lead to vastly different outcomes for employment, education, healthcare, and long-term stability.
AidData is working to identify which legal frameworks support smoother integration and which fragmented systems create barriers. We're focused in particular on analyzing outcomes for Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holders and asylum seekers in the U.S., as well as the vastly different integration experiences faced by Syrians and Afghans across Germany and other European countries.
We're generating evidence on what works and identifying gaps, providing policymakers with practical recommendations to ultimately improve how immigration policies are implemented and designed.
Lessons from Afghan Migration to the U.S.
Through a new grant, AidData is informing targeted legal advocacy to preserve and strengthen the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program.
In the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, thousands of Afghan nationals were promised a pathway to U.S. permanent residency through the SIV program. But administrative breakdowns have led to uneven implementation, funneling many into divergent legal pathways that offer less stability and more limited rights. This legal uncertainty is compounded by the looming expiration of the SIV program itself, which could leave thousands of Afghans in legal limbo or at risk of becoming undocumented.
AidData is working understand how entry pathways shape early integration outcomes for Afghan migrants, through a recent grant from William & Mary. In partnership with the W&M Immigration Clinic and local resettlement organizations, we're assessing how legal status leads to differences in housing, employment, education, and long-term security.
The project will ultimately provide public policy recommendations on how to bolster socioeconomic conditions for recent migrants, reduce disparities, and ensure more equitable and coherent immigration policies.
Online Migration Research Platform
AidData is developing a one-stop-shop to advance migration scholarship, policymaking, and practice.
As migration research rapidly expands across diverse disciplines, keeping abreast of current data, methods, and findings becomes increasingly challenging.
AidData, in collaboration with Aptima, is filling the gap with an innovative online migration research platform designed to centralize resources and facilitate scholarly collaboration. The platform's development was informed by a survey of nearly 2,000 migration researchers worldwide.
Leveraging advanced AI, including large language models, the platform will offer curated access to migration data, methodologies, literature, and networking opportunities, built upon AidData’s GeoQuery system.
Planned features include:
- a centralized data and methods portal
- curated migration datasets with metadata
- an AI-enabled literature navigator
- collaborative tools for interdisciplinary researchers
- training modules
- how-to guides for students and early-career scholars
Featured Publications
Program Team
For technical or research inquires, contact:
For partnership and media inquiries, contact:
Alex Wooley
Director of Partnerships and Communications