Will Allen

@williamlallen

political scientist • how people engage with info, and why this matters for attitudes and policy around the world • Deputy Editor @migrationjrnl.bsky.social • UK Young Academy • all the baking • www.wlallen.com

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Will Allen@williamlallen· 15d

Through 2025, 2/3 of prefectures had plans describing how they would apply multicultural coexistence. These places tend to have higher shares of foreigners, but causality is hard to pin down. Rather, we examined all of them to understand how they conceive, justify, and achieve coexistence on paper.

A pair of box plots showing that prefectures with documented multicultural coexistence initiatives tend to have higher immigrant shares, whether you take a more conservative view and only focus on explicit multicoexistence plans (panel A), or include any prefectures where multicultural coexistence is present in some form (panel B). The differences are statistically significant in both cases.

Will Allen@williamlallen· 15d

Policies practically impacting immigrants often appear at subnational levels. While promoting these individuals' integration may mean well, it's not always clear what the goals are or how to achieve them. Japan is very instructive as it considers immigration to address acute demographic issues.

A line chart showing the share of the population born in another country for Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan. All are rising from 1990 to 2024, with Japan at about 2.5% of the population, Korea at about 3.5%, and Taiwan nearly 5%. These are significant increases since 1990, when foreign born people made up less than 1% of each country's population.

A line chart showing the population growth rate of Japan from 1990 to 2020, with projections through 2100 using UN data. IT shows a steep increase in the rate of depopulation, to about -0.6% in 2020. The projected rate remains negative.

A stacked area chart showing how the distribution of people in Japan by age group has changed since 1990. People 65+ have grown as a share of the population while 15-64 year olds have declined.

Will Allen@williamlallen· 15d

Integrating immigrants increasingly falls to regional governments, but what do these policies actually look like? Mariri Niino and I have a new open-access @psjeditor.bsky.social paper examining how Japanese prefectures use "multicultural coexistence" in their planning: doi.org/10.1111/psj..... A 🧵

Title: Imagined Integration: The Logics of Japanese Immigrant Integration Policy

Journal: Policy Studies Journal

Authors: Mariri Niino, University of Oxford, and William Allen, University of Southampton

Abstract: As governments develop immigrant integration policies, they draw on and express conceptions about what successful integration looks like—what we call “imagined integration.” Yet this imagination likely displays variation that matters for implementation: integration policymaking is increasingly multilevel as it involves subnational layers of bureaucracy, and it may differ across national contexts which have distinct immigration experiences and political dynamics. In response, we trace the logics within Japan's approach to integrating a range of immigrants (“multicultural coexistence”) as its objectives pass through to subnational (prefectural) governments. As a major industrialized economy, Japan is instructive because its centrally organized approach to integration differs from Western cases, and yet its growing policy attention to integration typifies trends in neighboring Asian countries facing similar demographic and economic challenges. Through the first comprehensive content analysis of all available prefectural plans regarding multicultural coexistence (N = 31 as of 2025), we identify how subnational policymakers conceive coexistence, its justification, and its successful achievement on paper. Our study contributes to better connections between empirical understanding of important policies affecting immigrants in a key world region, as well as to theorization about the ideational aspects of policymaking.

要旨:

政府は移民政策を策定する際、望ましい統合のあり方について一定の構想を描き、それに基づいて政策を形成・表現していく。本稿では、このような統合に関する政策的理想像を「イマジンド・インテグレーション」(想像の移民統合政策)と呼ぶ。しかし、この構想は実際の政策実施において多様な実践を伴いうる。その背景には、移民統合政策の形成が近年ますます多層化し、地方自治体が政策主体として重要な役割を担うようになっていることに加え、各国における移民受入れの経験や政治的文脈の差異が存在する。こうした問題意存に基づき、本稿では、日本における移民統合理念としての「多文化共生」が、都道府県でどのように受容・展開されているかを検討する。日本は主要先進工業国の中でも比較的中央集権的な移民政策体制を有しており、この点で地方分権的傾向の強い西欧諸国と異なる特徴を持つ。他方で、人口減少や労働力不足を背景に外国人住民への対応が重要な政策課題となっている点では、アジア諸国に共通する動向も示している。本稿では、2025年時点で策定されている31件の都道府県多文化共生推進計画を対象に初めての内容分析を行い、地方自治体の政策担当者が「多文化共生」をどのように理解し、どのように政策目標として位置づけているのかを明らかにする。これにより、本研究は、世界的に重要性を増すアジア地域における移民政策についての実証的理解を深めるとともに、政策形成における観念的側面に関する理論的議論への貢献を目指す。

Will Allen@williamlallen· 18d

There are few things as rewarding on a Sunday afternoon as homemade patacones (crispy fried plantain) and frijoles colombianos con hogao #poliskycooks

A bowl of plump beans served over rice with green coriander on top, and two crispy yellow slices of fried plantain on the side

A plate full of golden yellow fried plantain with flakes of white sea salt

Will Allen@williamlallen· 20d

🗳️ Did my civic duty this morning and sent my absentee ballot for the Michigan primaries in this year’s midterm elections. Some very important races including the open Senate seat and ones for my district (MI-8) which is one of the swingiest in the country ⚖️ Get informed and go vote!

An envelope labelled ‘absent voter ballot’ being held in front of a postbox, marking the moment a vote is cast from
abroad.

Will Allen@williamlallen· 25d

Primera fila para la Orquesta Nacional de España en @royalalberthall.bsky.social! #bbcproms

orchestra members stand facing a cheering audience as they hold their instruments

Photo from behind a group of orchestra members holds their instruments joyfully over their heads as they take a selfie

Will Allen@williamlallen· 27d

Across two UK studies in 2021 & 2025, we show people prefer immigrants in essential over non-essential jobs, net of skill. Perceptions of jobs' essentiality are also strongly associated with social value, and distinct from prestige and skills. They also correlate with admission preferences.

A coefficient plot showing the main results from Study 1: people prefer immigrants working in essential over non-essential occupations for admission by 22 percentage points (19 pp for low-skilled occupations, and 24 pp for high-skilled occupations). They also view these people are more economically beneficial by 10 pp (13 pp for low-skilled occupations, and 7 pp for high-skilled occupations).

Will Allen@williamlallen· 27d

Which immigrants do people prefer and why? Many point to skill levels, but @mfreino.bsky.social @isabel-ruiz.bsky.social and I argue people also consider the social value of work immigrants do, even if considered "lower" skilled. Open access in @ejprjournal.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1017/S147... 🧵

Title: Beyond skills: How occupational essentiality and social value relate to attitudes toward immigrant labor.
Authors: William L. Allen, Mariña Fernández-Reino, and Isabel Ruiz
Abstract: Research on public attitudes toward immigration consistently shows that people prefer higher- over lower-skilled immigrants, largely for sociotropic economic and fiscal reasons. We argue that this account is incomplete: citizens also evaluate immigrant workers according to the essentiality and social value of the work they perform, alongside formal skills and education. We conceptualize two logics for evaluating occupations – economic-fiscal and moral-social – that shape attitudes toward labor immigrants, before testing this argument in two studies in the UK. Study 1 uses a preregistered conjoint survey experiment (N = 4,951) fielded during the UK’s third COVID-19 lockdown in January 2021. Respondents evaluated hypothetical labor immigrants varying in occupation, skill level, and origin. Immigrants working in occupations designated as ‘essential’ during the pandemic were substantially more likely to be preferred for admission (by about 22 percentage points) and more likely to be viewed as economically beneficial (by about 10 percentage points) than those in nonessential jobs, net of skill. Study 2 reports results from an online survey (N = 1,944) fielded in 2025 measuring perceptions of occupational essentiality, social value, economic value, prestige, skill, and labor shortages. Perceived essentiality is strongly associated with social value while remaining distinct from skill and prestige. Importantly, perceptions of occupational essentiality remained stable over time and correlated with preferences for admitting immigrants in those same occupations. Together, these findings highlight occupational essentiality as a distinct and consequential driver of immigration attitudes with implications for labor migration debates and policymaking.

Will Allen@williamlallen· Jul 7

Vamos Colombia! 🇨🇴 #SUICOL

A graphic showing the player lineup of the Colombian national football team at the World Cup 2026

Will Allen@williamlallen· Jul 3

Summertime in Oxford

Two glasses of wine in front of an out of focus background of historic buildings and a red letterbox

Will Allen@williamlallen· Jun 21

Summer has arrived: grilled hallim, hot honey, dill #poliskycooks

Five golden brown slices of hallim cheese layered on a plate of giant cous cous and green rocket.

Will Allen@williamlallen· Jun 16

Excited for #epss2026, where I'll share work about immigrants' occupational essentialness and public views on welfare: Friday, 10.50, Broadway (Hilton). With stellar coauthors @jacquibroadhead.bsky.social @mfreino.bsky.social @deniskierans.bsky.social @isabel-ruiz.bsky.social @msumption.bsky.social

Title: Immigrant Occupational Essentialness and Preferences for Welfare Redistribution
Authors: William Allen, Jacqueline Broadhead, Mariña Fernández-Reino, Denis Kierans, Isabel Ruiz, and Madeleine Sumption
This Version: 12 June 2026
Abstract: Who should have access to national welfare systems, and under what conditions? These questions are central to economic and migration policymaking in many high-income receiving countries. Existing evidence shows how people tend to prioritize nationals’ abilities to access welfare over migrants ("welfare chauvinism") although this varies across groups. Without dis- agreeing with this, we advance occupational essentialness as an underexplored dimension of immigrants’ profiles that also matters for welfare preferences. Conceptually, essentialness signals the centrality of work that immigrants perform to the core functioning of societies, and which often involves making contributions to and personal sacrifices for others. Our evidence comes from a pre-registered conjoint survey experiment fielded in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2021. Across in-kind and means-tested cash transfer benefit types (NHS primary healthcare, housing benefits, Universal Credit), respondents prioritized immigrants working in essential over non-essential occupations by about 0.1 of a standard deviation. This was consistent for immigrants with shorter- and longer-term residency status. However, against pre-registered expectations, respondents who were negatively materially impacted expressed more generous preferences towards non-essential immigrant workers compared to unaffected respondents, though their preference for essential over non-essential workers was also modestly smaller. These patterns have implications for theoretical and conceptual development regarding redistributive politics, and policymaking on immigration and labor markets.

Will Allen@williamlallen· Jun 14

Morning, Oxfordshire

The top of a vibrant green tree against a blue sky with wispy white clouds in the corner

Will Allen@williamlallen· Jun 10

Reading @dmckenzie.bsky.social's always-helpful and just-published annual round-up, seems my experience in political science broadly lines up with (or is even slightly shorter than) development journals. But >5k submissions to WD in 2025?! Full blog here: blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...

A table listing top development journals and their respective desk reject rates, acceptance rates conditional on external review, and mean times to first decisions. Summary columns at the end display the share of submissions reviewed within 3 and 6 months. Overall, most mean review times after external review are over 90 days, and most are within 3-4 months. Desk reject rates vary but all are above 50%.

Will Allen@williamlallen· Jun 9

I also track the number of reviews I give against the ones I receive, accounting for co-authors. Some say if we're creating needs for X reviews by sending work out, we ought to review the same. Obviously capacity varies. Seems I'm still net positive nearly two years into an assistant professor role.

Line chart titled “The Evolving Role of Peer Reviewing: Difference between reviews received (author adjusted) and submitted.” The horizontal axis shows years from 2012 to 2026, and the vertical axis shows the difference between reviews received and reviews submitted, ranging from about −20 to +20. The chart tracks changes over time, starting slightly negative (around −5 to −8) in the early 2010s, dipping near −10 around 2016–2017 in the middle of the labeled period 'PhD', then rising steadily into positive territory after 2018 during a research fellowship period. The line peaks around 10–15 in the early 2020s, briefly dips near zero around 2021 (around a teaching fellowship period), and then increases again to roughly 15–18 by 2024–2026 after a marker indicating an 'assistant professor' role. The chart suggests a transition from receiving more reviews than submitting (negative values) to submitting more than receiving (positive values) over time.

Will Allen@williamlallen· Jun 9

When it comes to my own reviewing, I usually take ~6 weeks to submit my review regardless of what I eventually recommend. (The high outliers here were COVID related). I've gotten slightly faster at rejects: last year's median was 41 days.

Box plot titled “Advising to Reject or Revise a Manuscript Takes Similar Times: Days Taken to Submit First Review by Outcome.” The horizontal axis shows two outcomes: Reject and Revise. The vertical axis shows days taken to submit a first review (0 to about 100 days). Both categories display similar distributions: the median time is 39 days for Reject (n=56, 56.6%) and 36 days for Revise (n=43, 43.4%). A note at the bottom states: “Data: n = 99 initial reviews submitted, 2014–2026.”

Will Allen@williamlallen· Jun 9

While most of my papers have been accepted after one or two submissions, almost one-in-five took four or more tries before landing. (For what it's worth, some of those are what I think are my "better" papers, or were interdisciplinary which meant finding a home was a bit harder).

Bar chart histogram titled “Papers (Eventually) Find Good Homes: Number of Times Submitted.” The horizontal axis shows the number of submissions (1 through 6), and the vertical axis shows the number of manuscripts. Most accepted papers were submitted once (12 manuscripts), followed by two submissions (6) and three submissions (4). Fewer papers required five submissions (3), while only one paper each required four or six submissions. Bars are shaded in varying green-to-purple tones. A note at the bottom reads: “Data: N = 27 accepted manuscripts, 2012–2026.”

Will Allen@williamlallen· Jun 9

For my area of political science #polisky, desk rejects are mercifully quick: about 8 days. Rejections after review have come after ~71 days, while R&Rs take ~85 days. Three months for a post-review decision seems reasonable. Overall, 4-out-of-5 of my submissions have been rejected. That's life!

A box plot titled “Peer Review Takes Time, and Usually Ends in Rejection: Days to First Decision by Outcome.” The horizontal axis shows three outcomes: Desk Reject, Reject, and Revise. The vertical axis shows days to first decision. Desk rejects cluster at low values with a median of 8 days; rejects have a higher spread with a median of 71 days; revise decisions take the longest, with a median of 84.5 days. There are several high outliers (some above 200 days). A legend-style annotation reports sample sizes and proportions: Desk Reject (n=36, 33%), Reject (n=49, 45%), and Revise (n=24, 22%). A note indicates the data cover 109 journal article manuscripts with completed first decisions from 2012–2026.

Will Allen@williamlallen· Jun 1

Preparing for the academic job market cycle but feeling a bit lost? I'm (re)sharing a piece I wrote for last year's @epssnet.bsky.social diversity panel. It includes my application data and qualitative excerpts. Main point: address a mix of person, project, and place. www.wlallen.com/wp-content/u...

Three equally overlapping aspects in a Venn diagram to cover in academic job market applications:
Project: why does this research matter now? What will it change? How will it contribute to knowledge?

Person: Why is this the right person? What essential skills or experience do they have?

Place: Why is this the right location for the research and researcher?

Will Allen@williamlallen· May 30

Hej hej Denmark, until the next time I visit the wonderful folks at @ddc-sdu.bsky.social (hopefully sooner rather than later!)

A golden brown twisted cinnamon bun with crunchy sugar in front of a coffee. The calm background is out of focus.

Will Allen@williamlallen· May 24

My local takeaway is a vibe today

A sign taped onto a shutter that dryly says ‘restaurant is closed today due to some inconvenience’

Will Allen@williamlallen· May 22

It was great to see my @apsa.bsky.social mentee Saher Ahmed from @migration.ubc.ca as she came through Oxford while on her UK tour! She’s writing up her dissertation on European migration governance with cool fieldwork data, so be on the look-out for this talented qualitative IR researcher.

Standing in front of the Radcliffe Camera in Oxford with bright sun on our faces!

Will Allen@williamlallen· May 20

Supported The Punter tonight, one of Oxford’s real gems of a riverside pub. Cold Puglian wine, miso cod / bream with salsa verde, apple and blackberry crumble. If you’re around or visiting, it’s definitely worth checking them out!

Two glasses of cold white wine in front of a lazy river

Two plates of roasted fish with crispy skin and creamy sauces

A bowl of dark red fruit crumble with a white ball of vanilla ice cream

Will Allen@williamlallen· May 20

Now with pages in @polcommjournal.bsky.social: which sources get traction in French-language X posts about immigration and by whom? Far-right users post external sources more than other users. These sources are both from the extreme-right and across the spectrum. Free here: doi.org/10.1080/1058...

Will Allen@williamlallen· May 16

Saturday morning sorted: made nearly half a kilo of cultured butter, plus I now have buttermilk for pancakes #poliskycooks #poliskybakes

Rectangular blocks of yellow butter wrapped in brown paper. The front one is partially unwrapped to reveal the soft and creamy butter.

Will Allen@williamlallen· May 12

Two recent summery dishes. First: medium-rare beef, rocket, Parmesan, mustard dressing. Second: tuna, tomato, pickled red onion, dill. #poliskycooks

Slices of medium rare beef on top of a bed of green rocket and white shavings of Parmesan.

Large chunks of tuna sitting among slices of tomato, green onion, pickled pink onions, and dill

Will Allen@williamlallen· May 11

Kicking off the week supplied with a jammy rhubarb and spicy candied ginger cake #poliskybakes

Pink slices of rhubarb and dark yellow pieces of shiny candied ginger on top of a golden cake on a grey plate.

A slice of moist cake with chunks of fresh rhubarb and slivers of candied ginger on top, with green trees out of focus in the background

Will Allen@williamlallen· May 8

Basque cheesecake made with panela #poliskybakes

A tall side view of a cheesecake with dark brown sides and a blackened top

Will Allen@williamlallen· May 6

For the last @sotonpolitics.bsky.social seminar of the year, I’ve got salted double chocolate cookies (and they’re gluten free) #poliskybakes

A pile of dark brown biscuits with cracked tops on a grey plate, with soft flakes of white salt.

Will Allen@williamlallen· Apr 27

📣 Do you work on migration and how it relates to security including economic, policy, political, and psychological aspects? We're hosting a 1-day workshop at @sotonpolitics.bsky.social on 23 June. Limited funding available. Abstracts due 11 May: forms.cloud.microsoft/e/VywDnKXg3c #polisky #migcitsky