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Maken Abbas

202509231439rd maken

Cohort: POLS 41

Topic of the thesis:  Migration, Institutions, and Development: A Political Economy Analysis

Abstract: This research will seek to explore and scrutinize the interlinkages between international migration and institutional development in migrant sending countries, specifically in the context of the Global South. This study will examine how engagement with the diaspora, emigration, and remittance flows impact democratic norms, institutional reforms, and governance quality. Utilizing Hirschman's framework on "exit and voice", this research seeks to examine how migration can serve as tool for political transformation. The study will utilize country-specific case studies and cross-country econometric analyses to evaluate heterogenous institutional impacts on migration. Qualitative interviews with return migrants, civil society actors, and policymakers, and panel data methods will be employed to provide government and international actors with policies for the promotion of institutional development through migration.

Research interests: Political Economy, Institutional Economics, Demographics, Geopolitics.
Graduated from: MS - Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST); BSc - Lahore School of Economics (LSE). 
Degrees obtained: Master of Science (Development Studies) in the Faculty of Education and Social Science; Bachelor of Science (Honors) with Double Major in Economics and Political Science
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