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Lines of Research
Remittances
Methods for estimating new series of remittance inflows. Implications of these new series on the balance of payments of the emigrants’ country of origin.
Migration
The economics of migratory flows. Causes and consequences mainly applied to the Spanish case of the late 19th century and 20th century.
Contrasts in regional growth
I combine research on remittances and migration at a provincial or local level. My analysis focuses on the Spanish case, but results that can be exported to other economies and contexts.
Land tenure systems
Analysis of the implications of different land tenure systems, such as smallholdings or large estates, like efficiency and growth.
Publications
Peer-reviewed journal articles
2026
Between development and control: State-sponsored emigration under Francoist rule
ABSTRACT
This paper examines assisted emigration policies under Francoist rule (1939–1975) and assesses the extent to which emigration served regime survival. Using provincial-level data between 1964 and 1976, we investigate whether the Spanish Emigration Institute (IEE), created in 1956, employed emigration as a safety valve for unemployment and political dissent. Our findings suggest that, contrary to expectations, assisted emigration was not systematically directed towards provinces with higher unemployment or lower educational attainment. Instead, population density emerges as the main predictor of assisted outflows, while politically contentious provinces experienced lower rates of state-sponsored emigration. This pattern reflects the regime’s efforts to prevent “ideological contamination” abroad. Our analysis underscores the regime’s dual dilemmas: while aiming to export surplus labour and secure foreign exchange through remittances, Francoist authorities simultaneously sought to limit the spread of oppositional ideas among workers in European destinations. The existence of multiple tolerated exit routes, combined with strong demand from receiving countries, undermined the regime’s ability to monopolise all emigrant flows. As a result, the political safety valve, while operative at origin, shifted to destination countries, where the regime relied on surveillance and propaganda to control assisted emigrants. By highlighting these dynamics, the paper contributes to the literature on migration under authoritarianism, showing how limited administrative capacity and international constraints shaped emigration policy in Francoist Spain.
CITATION
Laura Maravall, Covadonga Meseguer, Ángel Muñiz, Between development and control: State-sponsored emigration under Francoist rule, Migration Studies, Volume 14, Issue 2, June 2026, mnag022, https://doi.org/10.1093/migration/mnag022
with Covadonga Meseguer and Laura Maravall
Migration Studies
2026
Spanish Emigrant Remittances and their Impact on Public Finances, 1870-1936
ABSTRACT
CITATION
Muniz-Mejuto, Angel. 2026. “Spanish Emigrant Remittances and Their Impact on Public Finances, 1870-1936”. Revista De Historia Industrial — Industrial History Review 35 (96):63-100. https://doi.org/10.1344/rhi-ihr.48083
Revista de Historia Industrial – Industrial History Review
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2017
Cultural adaptation of ERASMUS students in Latvia and host university responsibility
ABSTRACT
Internationalisation of education and student mobility (incoming and outgoing) has become a significant factor in the sphere of higher education. These processes lead to interaction between local students and exchange students, as well as between exchange students and host universities. Being in the foreign country for a certain period (one or two semesters) requires some cultural and social adaptation that could or could not be problematic for various reasons. In order to maximise benefits for the exchange students and host universities, it is important to identify existing problems and to offer possible solutions. The aim of the current paper is to research the critical aspects of cultural adaptation process of ERASMUS students in Latvia. The international group that consists of a professor of the University College of Economics and Culture and three exchange students from Italy and Spain carried out the research. The empirical methods used were the following: a survey of ERASMUS students (non-probability purposive sampling) and semi-structured interviews with the host university ERASMUS coordinators. The data processing methods were the descriptive statistics as well as the thematic content analysis. On the basis of critical issues identified during the research process, the authors worked a set of practical solutions aimed at the host institutions.
CITATION
Vevere, V., Resentini, C., García, M. and Muñiz, A. (2017). Cultural adaptation of ERASMUS students in Latvia and host university responsibility, Journal of Economics and Culture, 14(2): 44-54. https://doi.org/10.1515/jec-2017-0017
with Velga Vevere, Consuelo Resentini, and Marcos García
Economics and Culture
Book chapters
2025
Memes-Based Learning: A Pilot Experience in Microeconomics
ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a small teaching experiment in a first-year Microeconomics course with high failure rates and low motivation. To make theory feel less distant, we introduced the “Microeconomics Memes Championship”, where students on an English-taught Business Administration degree created original memes to explain core ideas from consumer theory, firm theory, and competitive markets. Students were asked to turn diagrams and definitions into pictures and captions their classmates would instantly recognise; translating standard microeconomics into the language of everyday digital culture. The evaluation combines exam data with a short perception survey. Using a simple OLS model of the standardised final exam score, and controlling for group, number of sittings and prior marks, results show that the students who completed all stages of the activity scored around 0.75–1.28 standard deviations above their peers. They were not always the “strongest” students on paper; several had weaker mathematical profiles. Survey responses suggest that participants felt the activity helped them understand, remember and revise the material, and clearly supported repeating it. The chapter argues that meme-based tasks can offer a low-cost, low-barrier way to reduce anxiety and foster deeper engagement with Microeconomics.
CITATION
Muniz-Mejuto, A. & Garrido, C. (2025). Memes-Based Learning: A Pilot Experiment in Microeconomics, in J. Camacho, A. Levi & F. Soto (Eds.), Formación superior transformadora: 6 pilares para potenciar la empleabilidad y competencias profesionales. Marcial Pons, Ediciones Jurídicas y Sociales, S.A. ISBN: 979-13-87913-48-9
with Carmen Garrido
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Working Papers
R&R
La Política Migratoria de Trump en 2025: Nativismo y Control Fronterizo
ABSTRACT
Este artículo analiza el papel del nativismo, las migraciones y la gobernanza fronteriza durante la Administración de Donald Trump en 2025, en un contexto de alta polarización. Mediante un enfoque metodológico mixto (análisis cualitativo de discursos y políticas, y cuantitativo de datos migratorios), se evalúa cómo la retórica política se materializa en políticas concretas. Los resultados evidencian un discurso nativista centrado en la disuasión y la securitización para consolidar políticas restrictivas, priorizando la seguridad nacional por encima de los criterios humanitarios. El Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE) actúa como eje coercitivo interno, lo que genera tensiones estructurales respecto de los derechos humanos. Asimismo, el análisis de los flujos migratorios (2016-2025) revela que estas medidas han fomentado la diversificación de rutas y el aumento de cruces irregulares. El estudio también evalúa el impacto sociopolítico y normativo de las 225 órdenes ejecutivas firmadas en 2025 en la cohesión social, la legitimidad institucional y las relaciones internacionales de EE. UU. La complejidad del fenómeno migratorio exige marcos analíticos multidimensionales que equilibren la seguridad nacional con la protección de los derechos humanos mediante la cooperación transnacional, mitigando así los efectos sistémicos y las tensiones en la política estadounidense.
CITATION
forthcoming
with José Manuel Corrales Aznar
Revise and Resubmit at Revista Latina de Comunicación Social
preprint
Decentralised Currency Hedging: Transatlantic Remittances and the Spanish Peseta, 1870–1936
ABSTRACT
Between 1870 and 1936, the Spanish transatlantic diaspora remitted substantial capital to their home country. However, how these decentralised networks navigated severe macroeconomic instability without formal state intervention remains a puzzle. This paper compares Constant and Dynamic Conditional Correlation specifications to evaluate transatlantic financial integration. The empirical results reveal significant volatility clustering and a positive, statistically significant conditional correlation between remittance growth and real exchange rate shocks. While the annual data frequency favours the more parsimonious constant model, the stability of this correlation across specifications is consistent with structural currency-hedging behaviour. Conversely, results reveal no conditional correlation with isolated domestic inflation or nominal exchange rate fluctuations. Additionally, a rolling volatility analysis demonstrates a structural shift in the network’s resilience after 1900, in line with the idea that technological maturity enabled migrants to process and dissipate shocks more efficiently than in the nineteenth century. Findings align with the view that migrants did not act as simple currency speculators, but rather successfully synthesised qualitative domestic price reports with international financial data to target the real exchange rate. In the absence of formal state insurance, migrant networks operated as an integrated macroeconomic hedge, systematically adjusting their transfers to shield domestic households from the devaluation of the peseta.
CITATION
Muñiz-Mejuto, Ángel, Decentralised Currency Hedging: Transatlantic Remittances and the Spanish Peseta, 1870-1936 (April 26, 2026). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=6662778 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6662778
Available at SSRN, click here