Immigration, Integration, and Support for Redistribution in Europe

Abstract

Immigration poses individual or collective economic risks that might increase citizen support for government redistribution, but can also generate fiscal pressure or undermine social solidarity to diminish such support. These offsetting conditions obscure the net effects of immigration for welfare states. This paper explores whether immigration's effects are mediated by the economic and social integration of immigrants -the degree to which they have unemployment levels, reliance on the welfare state, and harbor social attitudes in line with those of the native population. Such integration may alter how immigration reduces solidarity and poses fiscal and macro-economic pressures, but not so much how immigration spurs economic risks. Where migrants are more integrated by such measures, immigration should have less negative or more positive implications for native support for government redistribution and welfare states than where migrants are less integrated. The paper explores these arguments using survey data for 22 European countries between 2002 and 2010. The principal finding is that economic integration, more than socio-cultural integration, softens immigration's tendency to undermine support for redistributive policies.

Measuring Immigration Policies: Preliminary Evidence from IMPALA

“…Others emphasize ethnic tolerance or cosmopolitanism (Hainmueller and Hiscox 2010;Espenshade and Calhoun 1993;Citrin et al 1997;McLaren 2001). Still others focus on cultural and ethnic differences or perceived threats to traditional culture and values, and a decline of "social capital" and trust, that can generate demands for more immigration restrictions (Putnam 2007;Huntington 2004;Dustmann and Preston 2007;Chandler and Tsai 2001;Burns and Gimpel 2000;Fetzer 2000, Harnoss 2014 or affect redistribution policies (see, e.g., Razin et al 2011, Burgoon, 2014, and Alesina et al, 2014 for recent contributions). And some researchers posit that historical experience with diversity and colonialism foster familiarity with difference and make immigration more acceptable politically (Freeman 1979;Olzak 1992;Cornelius et al 2004).…”

“…Given that immigration can affect the attitudes of natives and migrants with respect to economic insecurities and working practices (Burgoon andRaess 2011, Burgoon 2014), the effects of immigration policies likely extend to welfare states and other public goods. More broadly, immigration policies in general, and admissions policies in particular, may influence cultural and ethnic diversity, social capital, political participation, and partisan alignments (Putnam 2007;Bauer et al 2000).…”

The Political Sources of Social Solidarity

“…Higher levels of immigration sometimes reduce support for redistribution, and economic developments play a role (Burgoon 2014;cf. Mewes and Mau 2012).…”

Comparative political economy and international migration

“…The most rapidly expanding area of research seeking to assess the impact of immigration on the political economy of rich democracies is certainly the one linking immigration to the support for and viability of the welfare state (Alesina & Glaeser 2004;Burgoon et al 2012;Burgoon 2014). We differentiate between approaches addressing functional logics and political logics.…”