The Good Fight Ruud Koopmans on Immigration and Integration in Europe
Feb 3, 2026
Ruud Koopmans, Research Director at WZB and professor of migration research, studies migration, integration, and public policy. He discusses cultural distance and value gaps, contrasts selective versus non-discretionary migration systems, examines how welfare states shape incentives and labor participation, and compares language learning on the job versus formal courses.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Diversity Brings Both Gains And New Risks
- Increasing diversity brought cultural gains but also visible problems like jihadist attacks and rising Islamism.
- Urban areas show partial reversals of liberal norms tied to demographic shifts in immigrant-majority cities.
Religion Creates Sticky Cultural Differences
- Religion and values create much stickier cultural distance than language does.
- Muslim-majority source countries often show larger value gaps with Western Europe than Latin America or East Asia do.
Selection Shapes Migrant Quality
- Selective, discretionary immigration (points/skill-based) yields higher-skilled migrants than non-discretionary flows.
- Europe receives more asylum and family migrants, which depresses average migrant skill levels compared with the US, Canada, Australia.
