Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Migration und Sozialstaat

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | Projects | Migration und Sozialstaat | Themen | Institutionenadaptivität | How adaptable are social welfare and migration regimes to migration?

How adaptable are social welfare and migration regimes to migration?

 

Historical-sociological approaches to explaining socio-structural differences within Europe have repeatedly postulated institutional "elective affinities", e.g., between political and welfare state systems (see Flora et al. 1999; Esping-Andersen 1999), aspects of which also relate to the flexibility of labor markets and the labor market integration of migrants (Brücker et al. 2013).

So far, however, there has been little research on the question of whether the respective migration and integration policy regimes also fit such patterns, and whether the integration of ethnic minorities differs depending on regime configuration. While Koopmans (2009) points to negative integration effects of inclusive integration regimes paired with strong welfare states, Goodman et al. (2015) find almost no notable effects of integration-political regimes.

We propose considering the incentives for integration in different regimes types, including the ethnic- and religious-based social capital of immigrant groups, as part of a club goods approach (Berman 2012). There may be a trade-off between flexible labor market regimes and dependencies on ethnic and religious communities, as the latter can provide aspects of social security, but demand group membership commitments in return.

Secondary analyses of existing individual data in the EU member states are planned in order to uncover links between labor market integration, social benefits, and indicators of ethnic and religious capital, thus providing a more comprehensive picture of the integration benefits of different institutional arrangements.

 

Bibliography
Berman, E., Iannaccone, L. R., & Ragusa, G. (2012). From empty pews to empty cradles: Fertility decline among European Catholics (No. w18350). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Brücker, H., Hauptmann, A., Jahn, E. J., and Upward, R. (2014).
Migration and imperfect labor markets: Theory and cross-country evidence from Denmark, Germany and the UK. European Economic Review, 66, 205-225.
Esping-Andersen, G. (1999): Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies. : Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Flora, Peter, Stein Kuhnle und Derek Urwin (Eds.) (1999): State Formation, Nation-Building, and Mass Politics in Europe: The Theory of Stein Rokkan. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Goodman, S. W., & Wright, M. (2015). Does Mandatory Integration Matter? Effects of Civic Requirements on Immigrant Socio-economic and Political Outcomes. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 41 (12), 1885–1908.
Koopmans, R. (2010). Trade-offs between equality and difference: Immigrant integration, multiculturalism and the welfare state in cross-national perspective. Journal of ethnic and migration studies, 36(1), 1-26.