The study was conducted by Professor El Mouhoub Mouhoud, during the 2009-2010 academic year.

Professor Mouhoud was a Visiting Professor at the New School for Social Research (Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis) in New York.

The project was structured in two successive stages.

During the first stage, the objective of the research, which was conducted at the Economics Department of the New School of Social Research (New York, United States) together with researchers at New York University, was to analyze the behaviors of immigrants from North Africa who had settled in Canada (Montréal) and in the United States (New York) by means of specific inquiries.

During the second stage, the project focused on a broader comparison between immigration policies in the United States and Europe and the respective dynamics of migrations within the Euro-Mediterranean framework on the one hand, and the NAFTA region on the other. In particular, analysis focused on the differences between the selective immigration policies of the European Union and the United States and the effects of these policies on the areas bordering both zones (Mexico-United States on the one hand, and the Maghreb-European Union on the other).

The research on the economic impacts of these migratory movements highlights the important role of such movements on the economic growth of the countries migrated from as well as the countries migrated to. The economic consequences of migrations can also influence North/South relations, as well as regional relations. Migratory movements are today a top priority for European countries as well as for the EU. They unquestionably alter current public policies and the social stakes at issue. The regulatory policies governing migratory movements rest on distinct modes of legal thinking and differing legal models. Here again, the two legal models represented by the Common Law and Civil Law are in competition. This study will allow for highlighting the choice of migrants in relation to the legal system that governs in the country they migrate to. What influence does the type of legal system in place in their new countries exercise on the choice of country made by such immigrants?

The study conducted by Professor Mouhoud bears directly on the attractiveness of a country and its law because it is aimed at measuring the nature and the quality of the migration flows by means of varying elements, including the legal systems in which they operate.

His work is of major interest today. His current research focuses on the potential impact of immigration policies both as regards the flow of persons as well as the economies concerned (countries of emigration and those of immigration) from a comparative perspective (US/France/EU). These studies therefore relate to legal rules, which are by definition involved and which go far beyond “immigration laws” to include labor and employment law, the laws governing the free movement of persons and capital, intellectual property rights, knowledge transfer issues, the law of contracts, etc.

As a result, the analyses conducted fall squarely within the heart of the current debate on globalization and the relations between institutions and economic development.