Module III - Migration, Populism and the Welfare State Flashcards
What six countries do Sainsbury & Morissens (2012) include and how do they differ?
USA vs UK, FRA vs GER, SWE vs DEN → two countries for each welfare type
They differ in their incorporation regime = rules and norms that govern immigrants’ possibilities to become a citizen, to acquire permanent residence, and to participate in economic, cultural and political life”
What do Sainsbury & Morissens (2012) measure in general?
- The de-commodifying effects of social policies
- How much taxation / transfers reduce the poverty rates among native citizens vs immigrants → strongest in soc.dem., weakest in USA
What do Sainsbury & Morissens (2012) find on different policies?
- Pensions and unemployment benefit are in almost all countries paid to more natives
- Social assistance is in most countries (ex. USA, GER) paid to more immigrants
- The hight of benefit is more for natives in pensions, and more to immigrants in family benefit and social assistance (mixed for unemployed benefits)
What two hypothesis has Römer?
- Dualization hypothesis: welfare generosity is neg. associated with immigrants’ access to welf. benefits.
- Generosity hypothesis: welfare generosity is pos. associated with immigrants’ access to welf. benefits.
What is the causal path of the dualization hypothesis (Römer 2017)?
Generous welfare states → increase migration (more attractive) → fiscal pressure → immigrant exclusion
Generous welfare states → increase migration (more attractive) → chauvinist attitudes → immigrant exclusion
What is the causal path of the generosity hypothesis (Römer 2017)?
welfare generosity → ease labour market pressure → less xenophobia → immigrant inclusion
welfare generosity → general egalitarian norms → seen as „everyone deserves“ → immigrant inclusion
welfare generosity → no tools for screening, cuz welfare for everyone → exclusion is more costly → immigrant inclusion
What are the findings of Römer (2017)?
- Generous rights for citizens are not incompatible with generous rights for immigrants
- Less people in working age → less inclusive rights
- Government ideology does not seem to matter (maybe sign of convergence)
- Light support for generosity theory (significant, but not particularly robust)
What does Gschwind (2021) find?
More generous welfare states make a bigger difference between migrants and native citizens, especially for new migrants and almost no difference for long term immigrated
What are potential issues between welfare state and migration?
- Dualization of the welfare state (different for insiders and outsiders, if insurance based)
- Fiscal imbalance (if too many receivers)
- Employment in the welfare sector (different to different regimes)
- Progressive dilemma (You cannot simultaneously have free immigration and a welfare state)
What role do migrants play in the social care regimes (van Hooren 2012)?
- Social Democrat: public funding and provision of care services. Relatively high pay and employment protection. Relatively low demand for migrant workers.
- Liberal: Market sets the standards for care provision. Low employment protection and low pay → Systematic demand for migrant workers in a formal and private care sector
- Familialistic: low supply of public or private care. High demand for care due to growing female labour market participation. Migrants employed in informal domestic work. “
What two hypothesis has Fenwick (2019) about increasing migration?
- Efficiency hypothesis: increasing immigration is associated with reductions in welfare state effort
- Compensation hypothesis: Increasing immigration is associated with increases in welfare state effort”
What is the causal path of the Efficiency hypothesis (Fenwick)?
Higher Migration → increased income inequ./migrants as benefiters → median voter prefers lower taxes → Lower WS effort
Higher Migration → More diversity → fractures solidarity → Lower WS effort
What is the cause path of the Compensation hypothesis (Fenwick)?
More Migration → More economic competition (more econ insecurity) → Higher demand for social protection → Higher WS effort
What results does Fenwick (2019) find on the influence migration on WS generosity?
- Higher % foreign-born population associated with higher social spending, but no effect on generosity (Support for the compensation hypothesis)
- Unionization is associated with generosity but left-wing gov is not associated with either indicator
How is populism defined (Mudde & Kaltwasser 2013)?
“A thin-centered ideology that considers society to be ultimately separated into two homogeneous and antagonistic groups, ‘‘the pure people’’ versus ‘‘the corrupt elite’’, and which argues that politics should be an expression of the volonté générale (general will) of the people.”
- Thin-centered = it can be combined with very different ideological traditions (e.g., left-wing or right-wing)
