novafrica@novasbe.pt

Higher Future – The role of information on student migration from Cape Verde

Project Info

Principal Investigators

Cátia Batista (Nova SBE)
Ana Balcão Reis (Nova SBE)
Pedro Freitas (Nova SBE)
Gonçalo Lima (EUI)

Project Coordination

Gonçalo Gameiro
David Costa

Funding

Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF)
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)
Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN)

About this Project

Every year large numbers of students from Cape Verde enroll in college in Portugal. These students face multiple academic and social integration challenges upon arrival, dropping out of college at much higher rates than other groups of students. Imperfect information at origin may lead many of these students to misperceive their expected costs and benefits from a college degree in Portugal.

Does providing tailored information on the average costs and benefits from a college degree in Portugalchange high school students migration decisions? To test this hypothesis, the project is implementing an experimental impact evaluation of information sessions in Cape Verdean high schools. The study helps understanding how being exposed to better, more targeted information on living costs, graduation prospects, as well as future returns to education shifts students’ decisions to migrate, and whether this ultimately improves their educational outcomes.

Outcomes of the Project

“What matters for the decision to study abroad? A lab-in-the-field experiment in Cape Verde”

By Catia Batista, David M. Costa, Pedro Freitas, Gonçalo Lima, Ana B. Reis

Published in the Journal of Development Economics, Volume 173, 2025, 103401.

You can read a Working Paper arising from this project here, the Policy Brief (pt version only) here, and the corresponding published Article here.

 

Contributing to SDGs: