Jackie Wahba

Professor Jackie Wahba is a Professor of Economics at the University of Southampton specializing in labour economics with a focus on international migration and refugee integration. Awarded an OBE in 2020 for services to Economic Policy, she serves on the ESRC Council and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. Her research addresses critical policy questions through empirical analysis of migration dynamics and economic development.

Her research interests center on migration's economic impacts, examining labour market integration, refugee destination choices, and spatial inequality. Recent work investigates how working-from-home reshapes residential mobility and regional disparities, while earlier studies analyzed return migration in North Africa and diaspora networks. She employs interdisciplinary approaches combining economics, demography, and policy analysis to inform migration governance.

Wahba's publication trends reveal evolving focus from micro-level migration decisions (2012-2019) to macro spatial impacts (2023-2025). Key fields include labour economics, population studies, and development economics, with increasing emphasis on post-pandemic mobility patterns and refugee integration challenges across European contexts.

Scientific recognition includes:

• OBE for services to Economic Policy (2020)
• Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (2022)
• ESRC Impact Prize (2020)

She directs substantial research funding from ESRC, British Academy, and EU programs for projects including 'Migration connecting generations' and 'QuantMig', supporting collaborative work across 12+ institutions. Her grants focus on migration scenarios, generational impacts, and refugee integration pathways.

Wahba co-leads research teams at the Centre for Population Change and C-BEAR, directing interdisciplinary groups studying migration, demographic change, and spatial economics through mixed-methods approaches.