Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T05:49:04.997Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Migration and welfare state spending

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2015

Stuart N. Soroka ,
Richard Johnston ,
Anthony Kevins ,
Keith Banting  and
Will Kymlicka
Stuart N. Soroka*
Affiliation:
Communication Studies and the Center for Political Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Richard Johnston
Affiliation:
Political Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Anthony Kevins
Affiliation:
Political Science, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Keith Banting
Affiliation:
Political Science, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada
Will Kymlicka
Affiliation:
Philosophy, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada
*
*E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Is international migration a threat to the redistributive programmes of destination countries? Existing work is divided. This paper examines the manner and extent to which increases in immigration are related to welfare state retrenchment, drawing on data from 1970 to 2007. The paper makes three contributions: (1) it explores the impact of changes in immigration on social welfare policy over both the short and medium term; (2) it examines the possibility that immigration matters for spending not just directly, but indirectly, through changes in demographics and/or the labour force; and (3) by disaggregating data on social expenditure into subdomains (including unemployment, pensions, and the like), it tests the impact of immigration on different elements of the welfare state. Results suggest that increased immigration is indeed associated with smaller increases in spending. The major pathway is through impact on female labour force participation. The policy domains most affected are ones subject to moral hazard, or at least to rhetoric about moral hazard.

Keywords

social welfare policyimmigrationethnic diversity
Type
Research Article
Information
European Political Science Review , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , May 2016 , pp. 173 - 194
Copyright
© European Consortium for Political Research 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alesina, A. and Glaeser, E.L. (2004), Fighting Poverty in the US and Europe, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alesina, A., Baqir, R. and Easterly, W. (1999), ‘Public goods and ethnic divisions’, The Quarterly Journal of Economics 114(4): 1243–1284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banting, K., Johnston, R., Kymlicka, W. and Soroka, S. (2006), ‘Do multicultural policies erode the welfare state? An empirical analysis’, in K. Banting and W. Kymlicka (eds), Multiculturalism and the Welfare State: Recognition and Redistribution in Contemporary Democracies, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, pp. 49–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borjas, G.J. (1994), ‘The economics of migration’, Journal of Economic Literature 32(2): 1667–1717.Google Scholar
Borjas, G.J. (1999), ‘Migration and welfare magnets’, Journal of Labor Economics 17(4): 607–637.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borjas, G.J. and Hilton, L. (1996), ‘Migration and the welfare state: immigrant participation in means-tested entitlement programs’, Quarterly Journal of Economics 11: 575–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brady, D. and Finnigan, R. (2013), ‘Does immigration undermine public support for social policy’? American Sociological Review, forthcoming.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brücker, H. (2012), The Labor Market Impact of Immigration and its Policy Consequences, MPC Analytical and Synthetic Note 2012/04, Migration Policy Centre, Fiesole, Italy: European Union Institute.Google Scholar
Brücker, H., Epstein, G.S., McCormick, B., Saint-Paul, G., Venturini, A. and Zimmermann, K.F. (2002), ‘Managing migration in the European welfare state’, in T. Boeri, G.H. Hanson and B. McCormick (eds), Migration Policy and the Welfare System, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, pp. 1–168.Google Scholar
Burgoon, B., Koster, F. and van Egmond, M. (2012), ‘Support for redistribution and the paradox of immigration’, Journal of European Social Policy 22(3): 288–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Constant, A. and Schultz-Nielsen, M.L. (2004), ‘Labour force participation and unemployment: incentives and preferences’, in T. Tranaes and K.F. Zimmermann (eds), Migrants, Work, and the Welfare State, Odense, Denmark: University Press of Southern Denmark, pp. 147–186.Google Scholar
Eger, M.A. (2010), ‘Even in Sweden: the effect of immigration on support for welfare state spending’, European Sociological Review 26(2): 203–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emmenegger, P. and Klemmensen, R. (2013), ‘What motivates you? The relationship between preferences for redistribution and attitudes toward immigration’, Comparative Politics 45(2): 227–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freeman, G.P. (1986), ‘Migration and the political economy of the welfare state’, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 485: 51–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giulietti, C., Guzi, M., Kahanec, M. and Zimmermann, K.F. (2013), ‘Unemployment benefits and immigration: evidence from the EU’, International Journal of Manpower 34(1): 24–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hicks, A. (1999), Social Democracy and Welfare Capitalism: A Century of Income Security Politics, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Hogg, M.A. and Abrams, D. (1993), ‘Towards a single-process uncertainty-reduction model of social motivation in groups’, in M.A. Hogg, D. Abrams (eds), Group Motivation: Social Psychological Perspectives, Hempstead, UK: Hemel Harvester Wheatsheaf, pp. 173–190.Google Scholar
Huber, E. and Stephens, J.D. (2001), Development and Crisis of the Welfare State: Parties and Policies in Global Markets, Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobs, A. (2011), Governing for the Long Term: Democracy and the Politics of Investment, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Korpi, W. and Palme, J. (2003), ‘New politics and class politics in the context of austerity and globalization: welfare state regress in 18 countries, 1975–95’, American Political Science Review 97(3): 425–446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kustec, S. (2012), The Role of Migrant Labour Supply in the Canadian Labour Market, Ottawa, ON,Canada: Research and Evaluation, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ref. No.: RR2012070.Google Scholar
Lipsmeyer, C.S. and Zhu, L. (2011), ‘Migration, globalization, and unemployment benefits in developed EU states’, American Journal of Political Scienc e 55: 647–664.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mau, S. and Burkhardt, C. (2009), ‘Migration and welfare state solidarity in Western Europe’, Journal of European Social Policy 19(3): 213–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nannestad, P. (2007), ‘Migration and welfare states: a survey of 15 years of research’, European Journal of Political Economy 23(2): 512–532.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OECD. (2007), The Social Expenditure Dataset: An Interpretive Guide, SOCX 1980–2003. Retrieved March 2010 from www.oecd.org/els/social/expenditure.Google Scholar
Ove Moene, K. and Wallerstein, M. (2001), ‘Targeting and political support for welfare spending’, Economics of Governance 2(1): 3–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pedersen, P.J., Pytlikova, M. and Smith, N. (2004), Selection or network effects? Migration Flows into 27 OECD Countries, 1990–2000. No. 1104, IZA, Berlin, Germany.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peridy, N.J. (2006), ‘Welfare magnets, border effects or policy regulations: what determinants drive migration flows into the EU?’ Global Economy Journal 6(4): 14–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Portes, A. and Vickstrom, E. (2011), ‘Diversity, social capital, and cohesion’, Annual Review of Sociology 37: 461–479.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Razin, A. and Sadka, E. (2000), ‘Unskilled migration: a burden or a boon for the welfare state?’ Scandinavian Journal of Economics 102(3): 463–479.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rothstein, B. (1998), Just Institutions Matter: The Moral and Political Logic of the Universal Welfare State, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sniderman, P.M. and Hagendoorn, L. (2007), When Ways of Life Collide, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Sniderman, P.M., Hagendoorn, L. and Prior, M. (2004), ‘Predisposing factors and situational triggers: exclusionary reactions to immigrant minorities’, American Political Science Review 98(1): 35–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sniderman, P.M., Peri, P., Figuerido, R.D. and Piazza, T. (2000), The Outsider: Prejudice and Politics in Italy, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Soroka, S., Johnston, R. and Banting, K. (2006), ‘Migration and redistribution in a global era’, in S. Bowles, P. Bardhan and M. Wallerstein (eds), Globalization and Egalitarian Redistribution, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press and Russell Sage Foundation, pp. 261–268.Google Scholar
Stichnoth, H. and Straeten, K.V.D (2013), ‘Ethnic diversity, public spending and individual support for the welfare state: a review of the empirical literature’, Journal of Economic Surveys 27(2): 364–389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swank, D. (2002), Global Capital, Political Institutions, and Policy Change in Developed Welfare States, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tajfel, H. (1981), Human Groups and Social Categories: Studies in Social Psychology, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tajfel, H. and Turner, J.C. (1979), ‘An integrative theory of intergroup conflict’ W.G. Austin and S. Worchel (eds), The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations, Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole, pp. 33–47.Google Scholar
Taylor-Gooby, P. (2005), ‘Is the future American? Or, can left politics preserve European welfare states from erosion through growing “racial” diversity?’, Journal of Social Policy 34(4): 661–672.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Oorschot, W. (2000), ‘Who should get what, and why?’, Policy and Politics. 28(1): 33–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zavodny, M. (1999), ‘Determinants of recent migrants’ locational choices’, International Migration Review 33(4): 1014–1030.Google Scholar