Their winning article, “Premium or Penalty? Occupations and Earnings of Ottoman Immigrants and Their Offspring in the United States, 1900-1940”, published in the European Review of Economic History, uses extensive US census data to analyse the economic integration of Ottoman immigrants—distinguishing between those from “Turkey” and “Syria-Lebanon”—and their descendants. Unlike previous studies, which often focused on the first generation or specific regions, their research provides a macro-level view of long-term economic patterns, revealing how these communities fared compared to other immigrant groups.
Dr Zalfou, who earned his PhD in Economic History at Lund University in 2025, specialises in migration studies, economic history, and quantitative analysis. His thesis, Borders and Pathways: Essays on Syrian Economic Development and Migrant Integration, examined regional inequality in Syria and the integration of Middle Eastern immigrants in the US and Sweden. He now works as a Senior Economist at Historic England, where he investigates the economic and social value of heritage sites, contributing to UK policy and cultural research.
Prof Dribe, a Wallenberg Scholar and Director of the Center for Economic Demography at Lund University, focuses on economic demography, including mortality, fertility, migration, and social mobility. His research, published in leading journals, uses longitudinal micro-data. He leads the Scanian Economic-Demographic Database and the research environment Socioeconomic Segregation, funded by the Swedish Research Council. Dribe teaches and supervises PhD candidates in economic history and demography.
The Centre for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) extends its warmest congratulations to Dr Rami Zalfou and Prof Martin Dribe on this outstanding achievement.