Welfare Magnet Hypothesis, Fiscal Burden, and Immigration Skill Selectivity

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the effect of welfare state generosity on the difference between skilled and unskilled migration rates, and the role of mobility restriction in shaping this effect. We utilize the free labor movement within the European Union plus Norway and Switzerland (EUR) and the restricted movement from outside the EUR in order to compare the free-migration regime to the restricted-migration regime. We find strong support for the magnet hypothesis under the free-migration regime, and the fiscal burden hypothesis under the restricted-migration regime, even after controlling for differences in educational quality and returns to skills in source and host countries.

The Role of Welfare in Locational Choices: Modelling Intra‐European Migration Decisions Across the Life‐Course

“…In contrast, younger migrants were less likely than migrants above 60 to move towards countries that spent more on welfare support for the elderly, whereas migrants in the older age groups were less likely to move towards countries that spent more on family benefits. These findings are in line with our second hypothesis, and may indicate that when a person is not eligible to welfare in a certain domain, higher social expenditure in that domain is associated with higher costs (Geis et al ; Razin & Wahba ) or fewer resources devoted to other welfare areas in the destination country (Kuitto ). Contrary to our expectations, spending on unemployment benefits had a negative effect on locational choices of migrants in the working ages, whereas the effect was positive for migrants outside the working ages.…”

“…On the other hand, individuals who are not eligible to welfare in a certain domain have less to gain from higher social expenditure in that domain. For them, higher social expenditure may even be associated with higher taxes (Geis et al ; Razin & Wahba ), or fewer resources devoted to other welfare areas in the destination country (Kuitto ). Therefore, we expect no or even a negative effect of higher social expenditure for the age groups that cannot enjoy the associated benefits:

H2: Higher spending on welfare state arrangements that cannot be accessed by individuals, either due to their life stage or other eligibility criteria, has no or a negative impact on their locational choices.

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New Mobilities Across the Life Course: a Framework for Analysing Demographically Linked Drivers of Migration

“…One would expect to find significant contrasts, for example, between the frequency and nature of population mobility in countries such as the UK, Sweden, and the Netherlands simply because of the distinctive ways that these countries have constituted the relations between the family, the welfare state, and the economy. Indeed, the skill type of a migrant is affected not only by immigration laws but also by the generosity of the welfare state (Razin & Wahba, 2015). A major challenge in undertaking this comparative type of research remains.…”

Et egalitært og velferdsstatlig integreringsparadoks?

“…Selv om noen undersøkelser konkluderer med at mottakerland med mindre økonomiske forskjeller tiltrekker seg flere lavt utdannede innvandrere (Grogger og Hanson, 2011), finner flere studier at andre faktorer, slik som kulturell naerhet, geografisk avstand eller innvandringspolitikk, er viktigere for å forklare variasjon i sammensetningen i innvandrerbefolkningen på tvers av ulike mottakerland (Belot og Hatton, 2012;Pedersen, Pytlikova og Smith, 2008;Razin og Wahba, 2015).…”