TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Giulietti, Corrado
AU  - Guzi, Martin
AU  - Kahanec, Martin
AU  - Zimmermann, Klaus F.
        TI  - Unemployment Benefits and Immigration: Evidence from the EU
        PY  - 2011/Oct/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 6075
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp6075
        AB  - The paper studies the impact of unemployment benefits on immigration. A sample of 19 European countries observed over the period 1993-2008 is used to test the hypothesis that unemployment benefit spending (UBS) is correlated with immigration flows from EU and non-EU origins. While OLS estimates reveal the existence of a moderate correlation for non-EU immigrants only, IV and GMM techniques used to address endogeneity issues yield, respectively, a much smaller and an essentially zero causal impact of UBS on immigration. All estimates for immigrants from EU origins indicate that flows within the EU are not related to unemployment benefit generosity. This suggests that the so-called "welfare migration" debate is misguided and not based on empirical evidence.
        KW  - unemployment benefit spending
KW  - European Union
KW  - welfare magnets
KW  - immigration
        ER  -