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Iranian Visiting Scholar of the Frobenius Institute earns PhD on economic sociology and development

Following her stay as a guest researcher at the Frobenius Institute, Atiyeh Sadeghi has finalized her PhD in economic sociology and development at Ferdowsi university of Mashhad in 2022.

picFoto: Fatemeh RiaziShe was granted a scholarship from the ministry of science and technology from Iran for her sabbatical leave in Germany. She was supported at Frobenius Institute from January 2021 to April 2022 as a visiting researcher to do her doctoral thesis. Her dissertation titled "Sociological explanation of immigrants' economic transaction with the home country: a case study of Iranian immigrants in Germany" supervised by Prof. Ahmadreza Asgharpourmasouleh from the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran and Prof Roland Hardenberg from Frobenius Institute in Germany. Her research discusses the observation that if the migration process is managed optimally, the economic transactions of immigrants with the home country can lead to an increase in economic growth; because these economic transactions can be used for investment and business. In addition, the increase in consumption can lead to an increase in the welfare of households and, in this way, come into the economic cycle of the entire country and affect the welfare of the entire society. Considering the lack of comprehensive research in this field, their research aims to identify the economic transactions of immigrants living in Germany with Iran and their reasons for it. The population consists of regular immigrants over 18 years living in Germany for up to 2 years. Since there was no previous guiding framework and theory in line with the economic transaction, qualitative method and grounded theory were used. Based on theoretical sampling, they reached theoretical saturation after interviewing 30 Iranian immigrants in Germany. Their findings demonstrate that there are three types of economic transactions by immigrants to Iran, which are family-oriented, altruistic and profit-making economic transactions. Furthermore, four essential processes leading to these economic transactions have been identified. In addition, the results illustrate that four factors such as socio-economic integration, family attachment and responsibility towards the family, altruism and guarantee for return play a crucial role in the economic transaction with the home country.