Welfare Magnet Hypothesis, Fiscal Burden and Immigration Skill Selectivity

42 Pages Posted: 22 Oct 2011 Last revised: 12 May 2023

See all articles by Assaf Razin

Assaf Razin

Tel Aviv University - Eitan Berglas School of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Jackline Wahba

University of Southampton, Department of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Date Written: October 2011

Abstract

This paper revisits the magnet hypothesis and investigates the impact of the welfare generosity on the difference between skilled and unskilled migration rates. The main purpose of the paper is to assess the role of mobility restriction on shaping the effect of the welfare state genrosity. In a free migration regime, the impact is expected to be negative on the skill composition of migrants while in a restricted mobility regime, the impact will be the opposite, as voters will prefer selective migration policies, favoring skilled migrants who tend to be net contributors to the fiscal system. We utilize the free labor movement within EUR (the EU, Norway and Switzerland) and the restricted movement from outside of the EUR to compare the free migration.

Suggested Citation

Razin, Assaf and Wahba, Jackline, Welfare Magnet Hypothesis, Fiscal Burden and Immigration Skill Selectivity (October 2011). NBER Working Paper No. w17515, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1947737

Assaf Razin (Contact Author)

Tel Aviv University - Eitan Berglas School of Economics ( email )

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Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

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Jackline Wahba

University of Southampton, Department of Economics ( email )

Southampton, SO171BJ
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HOME PAGE: http://https://sites.google.com/site/jackiewahba/

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

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