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Abstract

Globalization is the tighter integration of the world’s economies and societies through trade, capital and migration flows, and diffusion of ideas. Advances in these areas pose a multitude of challenges on individuals, the nation states, as well as the international community. The motivation to address challenges of globalization for international mobility, social welfare and environmental sustainability from an economic perspective arises from the wish to structure and understand these complex, yet poorly studied phenomena. For that reason each chapter establishes clear hypotheses which are based on economic models explaining the incentive structure of agents or the political economy of institutions. Each empirical analysis uses existing macroeconomic observational evidence to test the predictions and establish meaningful implications for the relevant actors. Taking the multitude of challenges posed by globalization into account, this dissertation contributes to the understanding of three challenges contemporary global politics is facing.