Migration and the Political Economy of the Welfare State

Abstract

National welfare states are compelled by their logic to be closed systems that seek to insulate themselves from external pressures and that restrict rights and benefits to members. They nonetheless fail to be perfectly bounded in a global economy marked by competition, interdependence, and extreme inequality. This article explores the consequences of transnational flows of labor both for the status of migrants who move to welfare states and for the viability of welfare states themselves. The consequences of migration for the fiscal and political stability of welfare states are discussed, and it is argued that migration has contributed to the Americanization of European welfare politics. It is concluded that the relatively free movement of labor across national frontiers exposes the tension between closed welfare states and open economies and that, ultimately, national welfare states cannot coexist with the free movement of labor.

The Institutional Logic of Welfare Attitudes

“…Primarily based on the American experience a number of recent studies have emphasised the importance of the degree of ethnic homogeneity (e.g. Freeman, 1986;Glazer, 1998;Goodhart, 2004;Alsina & Glaeser, 2004). Another tradition explains cross-national differences in support for welfare policy with differences in egalitarian values in different cultures (e.g.…”

Love of Variety and Immigration

“…For instance, Freeman (1986Freeman ( , 1995 argued that capital owners (producers) belong to a specific group in an economy that benefits from liberalizing the labor markets. Consequently, this group lobbies toward the liberalization of labor.…”

Mobilité internationale en Europe centrale touristes, commerçants et migrants

“…Il existe de nombreux concepts et théories destinés à expliquer les migrations. Les théories néo-classiques de la migration développées par Adam Smith reposent sur la thèse de la maximisation des profits, qui peut provenir soit de l'emploi (Todaro, 1980), soit des disparités dans les prestations sociales (Freeman, 1986). La théorie du capital humain (Sjaastad, 1962) et les nouvelles économies domestiques (the new households economics, Mincer, 1978, Stark, 1991 peuvent être envisagées comme une variante des conceptions néo-classiques.…”