Framing the Causes and Consequences of Immigration: Evidence Form the European Union

This paper draws from new research conducted as part of a European Research Council funded project to explore the causes of cognitive bias in migration governance systems. It asks how actors within governance systems frame their judgments and how these judgments incorporate the effects of economic, social, political, demographic and environmental change, as well as uncertainty about all these factors. Drawing from extensive interview material, the paper will assess the ways in which judgments by key actors within European migration governance systems are framed. It does so by exploring the constitution of migration governance and the flows of information and ideas within these networks. It also draws from ideas drawn from social psychology about the importance under conditions of uncertainty of certain kinds of heuristics  - such as 'anchoring' heuristics - in informing judgments about international migration.