January
Professor Amelie F. Constant
Princeton University
Amelie F. Constant is a Visiting Research Scholar at Princeton University, the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the Office of Population Research (OPR). Before that, she was the Director of Migration at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). She is an Associate Editor of the Journal Migration and Society, and on the Editorial Board of Applied Economics Quarterly, the Quarterly Journal of Finance, and Global Germany in Transnational Dialogues. Previously, she was the Founding Editor of the IZA Journal of Migration. She is an elected Foreign Member of the European Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of CESifo in Munich, of GLO in Bonn, of the United Nations University-MERIT in Maastricht, and an academic member of ATINER. She serves on the board of directors of AIRLEAP and SGE, and is past President of the Society of Government Economists. Dr. Constant is an expert in the economics of migration and has extensive experience in both research and policy. She has written over 70 refereed articles and book chapters and has won several awards for them. Dr. Constant has published in top journals such as the Journal of Population Economics, the European Journal of Health Economics, the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Economics of Transition, the Journal of the European Economic Association, and Small Business Economics. She is also the co-editor of two books and the first handbook on migration, as well as of a volume of the Research in Labor Economics Journal, and three special issues of the Journal of International Manpower. She has written more than 25 reports and op-ed pieces on migration issues and has been interviewed numerous times by the media about the impact of immigrants on natives, the flooding of refugees in Europe, and how immigrants fare. Dr. Constant received her Ph.D. in Labor Economics and Econometrics from Vanderbilt University in 1998, and completed her post-doc at the University of Pennsylvania.
As a professor, Dr. Constant has 20 years of experience as a visiting professor, Professorial Lecturer, or Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, George Washington University, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and Drexel University. She was also a Research Professor at the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin, and the Vice Dean of the Graduate School of the German Institute for Economic Research. As a businesswoman starting her own economic think-tank in Washington DC in 2006, Dr. Constant was recognized by the National Association of Professional Women as the Professional Woman of the Year 2009/2010, and by the International Women’s Leadership Association as a Woman of Outstanding Leadership (in 2012). Dr. Constant’s research interests include the Economics of Migration, Health, Economics of Education, Urbanization, Entrepreneurship, Happiness and Well-being, Risky Economics, and Public Policy.
Why did you become a member of the International Atlantic Economic Society?:
I remember receiving a very warm invitation from Professor Nicholas Apergis to be on a plenary symposium about Greece at the annual spring conference of the International Atlantic Economic Society that was to take place in Athens, Greece in March 2011. The title was “Prescription for Greece’s Exodus from the Current Crisis.” I was flattered and intrigued and accepted the invitation. For some reason that I cannot pinpoint, I was somewhat already familiar with IAES and had a good impression of it. At the conference I had the opportunity to form my own opinion about the high caliber of IAES, the great research papers presented, and the outstanding members and colleagues I met, with whom I kept in touch. I should also say that I liked the structure of the conference, the breaks, and the social program, all conducive to networking. Overall, it was a worthwhile short trip overseas for me and the beginning of a long-lasting relationship with a special organization: IAES. Later, I attended the fall 2011 conference in Washington DC, which was an excellent conference. I have been trying to attend IAES conferences since.
What do you find most enjoyable about your membership?:
The most notable benefit and enjoyment at the same time is that IAES affords me the opportunity to present my research at its biannual conferences. I enjoy both the domestic meetings and the European meetings tremendously. There are always new scholars to meet and new papers to read and debate. I also very much like the undergraduate student program, an invaluable contribution of IAES. On a more subjective note, I like the nice touch Kathy Virgo brings to the conference, making people feel at home and at ease, like IAES is an extended family of scientists and researchers.
Have you held any notable positions within the IAES, (Officer, Board of Editors, Program Committee, etc.) if so, when?:
I have not held any notable positions yet. But when I attend the conference and present a paper I try to be a good citizen by discussing papers presented in sessions and by chairing sessions.
What types of projects/research are you working on and what inspired/motivated you to pursue that interest?:
At OPR I collaborate with Professor Douglas S. Massey on the American Bar Foundation’s Future of Latinos in the United States: Law, Opportunity, and Mobility project to produce four white papers on the Trends and Patterns of Latinos in the United States by U.S. census region (North-East, South, Mid-West and West). I also collaborate on The Social Demography of Latinos: A Comparative regional Analysis, a project funded by the Russell Sage Foundation that builds on the four aforementioned white papers and estimates regression models to predict labor market and residential outcomes as a means of identifying likely barriers to the Latino socioeconomic mobility. My other ongoing projects are about the health of immigrants and the return and circular migration of immigrants. The motivation for my research is to answer questions that can eventually improve the conditions of minority, marginalized and vulnerable populations, can add to our knowledge, and can be useful to policymakers and the public.
What advice would you give to someone who is considering entering your line of work/field of study?:
To students, my advice is to really love their topic of research and be excited and passionate by it. The long hours of study and research will easily deter you from achieving your goal. But your inner drive to find the answer to something you are excited about will keep you going.
Going forward, what other projects/research are you looking to or hoping to pursue?
As I continue on my aforementioned projects, I would also like to start research on refugees/asylees in Europe and unaccompanied children migrants.
Favorite hobby:
Pre-20th century classical music and opera. I like to listen to this music and to go to concerts. This is why I support the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Curtis School of Music. Then comes traveling. I like to visit national parks and gaze in awe at our marvelous planet. I equally like to visit cities, their historical attractions, and try to live like locals do, especially when I travel abroad. I like to talk with locals and learn their stories.