Vinicius Diniz Schuabb

My research lies at the intersection of development economics and economic history. I am particularly interested in investigating the historical determinants of development, with a focus on the interplay between migration, education, culture, and religion. In the policy arena, my work centers on developing geospatial analyses for policy evaluation by exploiting local and neighborhood characteristics, with a particular focus on groups facing climate and socioeconomic vulnerabilities.

JOB MARKET PAPER

Once Welcomed, Then Scapegoated: The Long-lasting Consequences of Assimilation Policies in the Wake of Mass Migration

This research examines the long-term consequences of immigrant assimilation policies following the Mass Migration period in Brazil. Specifically, I focus on the Nationalization Campaign led by the Brazilian government, leveraging shifts in public sentiment towards immigrant communities triggered by external events such as the Great Depression and World War II. Once seen as valued contributors to the nation, immigrant communities were increasingly targeted as undesirable. Key policy changes included the closure of hundreds of immigrant-community schools, forcing school-age children to either attend distant Portuguese-speaking schools or remain uneducated. To assess the impact of these policies, I collected and structured archival data from various administrative sources spanning the twentieth century, allowing for an examination of both short- and long-term effects on the human capital of affected immigrants and their descendants. The short-term analysis reveals significant negative effects of the Nationalization Campaign on the educational outcomes of immigrant communities at the state, municipal, and individual levels. The long-term analysis highlights the enduring consequences, showing that immigrants who were school-age during the campaign experienced worse educational attainment later in life. These losses in human capital potential persisted into the second generation, suggesting an intergenerational effect. The cultural proximity between the immigrant's country of origin and Brazil was a key factor. These findings offer important insights for the design of immigration and education policies, emphasizing the long-lasting impact of exclusionary assimilation practices on both individual and societal levels.

PUBLICATIONS

• Fassarella et al. (2024). Social Mobility and CCT Programs: The Bolsa Família Program in Brazil. World Development Perspectives. Vol. 35. 100624. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2024.100624

WORKING PAPERS

• Social Policy as a Buffer: A Geospatial Analysis of Climate Change's Impact on Migration Among Vulnerable Agricultural Producers. (with Valdemar Pinho Neto, Sergio Guimarães and Paulo Tafner.)
• Resilience in Adversity: How Social Policies Amend Labor and Capital Mobility in the Face of Extreme Weather Events. (with Valdemar Pinho Neto, Pedro Maia, Sergio Guimarães and Paulo Tafner.)