Information Campaigns and Migration Perceptions

The research studies the effect of information campaigns on migration on perceptions and intentions to migrate among high school students in Dakar, Senegal. First, I analyze the role of expectations, migration perceptions, and intention to migrate. Through a randomized experiment, I also assess which actors and types of information are most effective in shaping these intentions and perceptions. I find that students display a high level of distrust in domestic labor markets, and an information treatment with an external expert reduces the misperceptions of some measures of labor market statistics but has no effect on the perception of the risks of the irregular migration journey. In addition, narratives are more effective in reducing the willingness to migrate irregularly, but none of the treatments has an impact on the intention to migrate.