Do Immigrants Move to Welfare? Subnational Evidence from Switzerland
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6232491 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jeremy Ferwerda (0000-0002-5066-4935, Dartmouth College, corresponding author), Moritz Marbach (0000-0002-7101-2821, University College London), Dominik Hangartner (0000-0002-4511-7507, ETH Zurich) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 68 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 874-890 |
| Publication date | 2024-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/ajps.12766 |
| OpenAlex | W4315929301 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 12 |
| References cited | 55 |
The welfare magnet hypothesis holds that immigrants are likely to relocate to regions with generous welfare benefits. Although this assumption has motivated extensive reforms to immigration policy and social programs, the empirical evidence remains contested. In this study, we assess detailed administrative records from Switzerland covering the full population of social assistance recipients between 2005 and 2015. By leveraging local variations in cash transfers and exogenous shocks to benefit levels, we identify how benefits shape intracountry residential decisions. We find limited evidence that immigrants systematically move to localities with higher benefits. The lack of significant welfare migration within a context characterized by high variance in benefits and low barriers to movement suggests that the prevalence of this phenomenon may be overstated. These findings have important implications in the European setting where subnational governments often possess discretion over welfare and parties frequently mobilize voters around the issue of “benefit tourism
Context (archaeology) · Demographic economics · Development economics · Discretion · Economics · Empirical evidence · Geography · Immigration · Market economy · Political science · Population · Public economics · Sociology · Tourism · Variance (accounting) · Welfare · Demography · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Migration, Refugees, and Integration
Free Movement versus European Welfare States? Variations of the Fiscal Effects of EU Migrants across Welfare State Regimes
Fearing Not Belonging
Facets of Crises
How Transit Countries Become Refugee Destinations
Age at arrival and immigrants’ housing outcomes
Why Has Migration Research So Little Impact? Examining Knowledge Practices in Migration Policy Making and Migration Studies
Change in migrants’ political attitudes
How Migrating Overseas Shapes Political Preferences
Welfare policy and immigration attitudes in Western Europe
Immigration, government type, and social welfare spending
Spatial overlap
Evidence for the welfare magnet hypothesis? A global examination using exponential random graph models
The Rise of Regional Authority
Immigration and Redistribution
Ethnic networks can foster the economic integration of refugees
Now and forever? Initial and subsequent location choices of immigrants
Fighting Poverty in the US and Europe
Immigration and Welfare Magnets
Ethnic Enclaves and Immigrant Labor Market Outcomes
After the refugee crisis
Housing Vienna
Refugees’ Access to Housing and Residency in German Cities
Welfare migration? Free movement of EU citizens and access to social benefits
Taking back control? Investigating the role of immigration in the 2016 vote for Brexit
Does EU Enlargement Start a Race to the Bottom? Strategic Interaction among EU Member States in Social Policy
Migration and welfare state solidarity in Western Europe
Moving towards fairer regional minimum income schemes in Spain
State Assisted Integration
Determinants of Recent Immigrants' Locational Choices
Pull Factors and Migration Preferences
Welfare Chauvinism in Populist Radical Right Platforms
A Model of Welfare Competition with Evidence from AFDC
Initial and Subsequent Location Choices of Immigrants to the Netherlands
A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures
Migration, the Life Cycle, and State Benefits
Ethnic Diversity and Preferences for Redistribution
Migration and the Political Economy of the Welfare State
ECJ Judges read the morning papers. Explaining the turnaround of European citizenship jurisprudence
Institutional contexts of political conflicts around free movement in the European Union
Enter at your own risk
Reassessing the “Race to the Bottom” in State Welfare Policy
Welfare Magnets
Do mainstream parties adapt to the welfare chauvinism of populist parties
The impact of intra-EU migration on welfare chauvinism
No welfare magnets – free movement and cross-border welfare in Germany and Denmark compared
Who benefits? Welfare chauvinism and national stereotypes
Redistributive policies in decentralised systems
Does Direct Democracy Hurt Immigrant Minorities? Evidence from Naturalization Decisions in Switzerland
What Makes People Worry about the Welfare State? A Three-Country Experiment
Did Austerity Cause Brexit
The Enclave and the Entrants
Internal Mobility
Structural Changes and New Cleavages
Deserving and Undeserving Welfare Claimants in Britain and the Netherlands
| Unique citing works | 12 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 6 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 11 |