IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/indres/v60y2021i4p521-548.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Immigration Status Uncertainty and Mental Health—Evidence from Brexit

Author

Listed:
  • Nils Braakmann

Abstract

The decision of the UK to leave the European Union created uncertainty for European citizens resident in the UK for the period 2016–2019. This paper studies the effects of this uncertainty on their mental health. Using data from a large household panel and a difference‐in‐differences framework, we find no evidence for a decline in mental health or life satisfaction for various definitions of EU citizens relative to multiple control groups. These findings are robust to the specific mental health measure. We corroborate this finding by looking at various channels plausibly linking Brexit and European citizens’ mental health.

Suggested Citation

  • Nils Braakmann, 2021. "Immigration Status Uncertainty and Mental Health—Evidence from Brexit," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 521-548, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indres:v:60:y:2021:i:4:p:521-548
    DOI: 10.1111/irel.12287
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/irel.12287
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/irel.12287?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nattavudh Powdthavee & Anke C. Plagnol & Paul Frijters & Andrew E. Clark, 2019. "Who Got the Brexit Blues? The Effect of Brexit on Subjective Wellbeing in the UK," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 86(343), pages 471-494, July.
    2. Christina Gathmann & Nicolas Keller, 2018. "Access to Citizenship and the Economic Assimilation of Immigrants," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(616), pages 3141-3181, December.
    3. Thiemo Fetzer, 2019. "Did Austerity Cause Brexit?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(11), pages 3849-3886, November.
    4. Ahmed Elsayed & Andries Grip, 2018. "Terrorism and the integration of Muslim immigrants," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(1), pages 45-67, January.
    5. Liberini, Federica & Oswald, Andrew J. & Proto, Eugenio & Redoano, Michela, 2019. "Was Brexit triggered by the old and unhappy? Or by financial feelings?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 287-302.
    6. Andrew E. Clark & Ed Diener & Yannis Georgellis & Richard E. Lucas, 2008. "Lags And Leads in Life Satisfaction: a Test of the Baseline Hypothesis," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(529), pages 222-243, June.
    7. Alabrese, Eleonora & Becker, Sascha O. & Fetzer, Thiemo & Novy, Dennis, 2019. "Who voted for Brexit? Individual and regional data combined," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 132-150.
    8. Alabrese, Eleonora & Fetzer, Thiemo, 2018. "Who is NOT voting for Brexit anymore?," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 394, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    9. Bisin, Alberto & Patacchini, Eleonora & Verdier, Thierry & Zenou, Yves, 2016. "Bend it like Beckham: Ethnic identity and integration," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 146-164.
    10. Harminder Battu & Yves Zenou, 2010. "Oppositional Identities and Employment for Ethnic Minorities: Evidence from England," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(542), pages 52-71, February.
    11. Ciro Avitabile & Irma Clots-Figueras & Paolo Masella, 2013. "The Effect of Birthright Citizenship on Parental Integration Outcomes," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(3), pages 777-810.
    12. Swati Dhingra & Hanwei Huang & Gianmarco Ottaviano & João Paulo Pessoa & Thomas Sampson & John Van Reenen, 2017. "The costs and benefits of leaving the EU: trade effects," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 32(92), pages 651-705.
    13. Chiswick, Barry R, 1978. "The Effect of Americanization on the Earnings of Foreign-born Men," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(5), pages 897-921, October.
    14. Steinhardt, Max Friedrich, 2012. "Does citizenship matter? The economic impact of naturalizations in Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 813-823.
    15. Regina T. Riphahn & Salwan Saif, 2019. "Naturalization and labor market performance of immigrants in Germany," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 33(1), pages 48-76, March.
    16. Francesca Mazzolari, 2009. "Dual citizenship rights: do they make more and richer citizens?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 46(1), pages 169-191, February.
    17. Phelps, Edmund S, 1972. "The Statistical Theory of Racism and Sexism," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(4), pages 659-661, September.
    18. Bernt Bratsberg & James F. Ragan & Zafar M. Nasir, 2002. "The Effect of Naturalization on Wage Growth: A Panel Study of Young Male Immigrants," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(3), pages 568-597, July.
    19. Alan Manning & Sanchari Roy, 2010. "Culture Clash or Culture Club? National Identity in Britain," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(542), pages 72-100, February.
    20. Teresa Casey & Christian Dustmann, 2010. "Immigrants' Identity, Economic Outcomes and the Transmission of Identity across Generations," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(542), pages 31-51, February.
    21. Sajons, Christoph, 2019. "Birthright citizenship and parental labor market integration," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-22.
    22. Georgiadis, Andreas & Manning, Alan, 2013. "One nation under a groove? Understanding national identity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 166-185.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nils Braakmann & Wessel N. Vermeulen, 2023. "Do mass layoffs affect voting behaviour? Evidence from the UK," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(4), pages 922-950, December.
    2. Hervy, Charlotte & Cavalli, Nicolo & Madia, Joan E. & Nicodemo, Catia, 2022. "Diverging mental health after Brexit: Evidence from a longitudinal survey," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    3. Nils Braakmann & Boris Hirsch, 2024. "Unions as insurance: Workplace unionization and workers' outcomes during COVID‐19," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(2), pages 152-171, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gordon B Dahl & Christina Felfe & Paul Frijters & Helmut Rainer, 2022. "Caught between Cultures: Unintended Consequences of Improving Opportunity for Immigrant Girls," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(5), pages 2491-2528.
    2. Gathmann, Christina & Garbers, Julio, 2023. "Citizenship and integration," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    3. Celina Proffen & Franziska Riepl, 2024. "Does a Passport Get You a Degree? Citizenship Reform and Educational Achievement," CESifo Working Paper Series 11483, CESifo.
    4. Prömel, Christopher, 2021. "Belonging or estrangement: The European refugee crisis and its effects on immigrant identity," Discussion Papers 2021/16, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    5. Christina Gathmann & Ole Monscheuer & Christina Felfe & Helmut Rainer & Swantje Falcke & Paolo Pinotti & Graziella Bertocchi & Chiara Strozzi, 2020. "Einbürgerung (junger) Migranten: Katalysator oder Belohnung für gelungene Integration?," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 73(11), pages 03-24, November.
    6. Christina Felfe de Ormeño & Helmut Rainer, 2020. "Intended and Unintended Consequences of Birthright Citizenship," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 21(04), pages 14-18, November.
    7. Christopher Prömel, 2022. "Belonging or Estrangement – The European Refugee Crisis and its Effects on Immigrant Identity," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1160, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    8. Alberto Bisin & Eleonora Patacchini & Thierry Verdier & Yves Zenou, 2011. "Ethnic identity and labour market outcomes of immigrants in Europe [Assessing the oppositional culture explanation for racial/ethnic differences in school performance]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 26(65), pages 57-92.
    9. Felfe, Christina & Kocher, Martin G. & Rainer, Helmut & Saurer, Judith & Siedler, Thomas, 2021. "More opportunity, more cooperation? The behavioral effects of birthright citizenship on immigrant youth," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    10. Campbell, Stuart & Nuevo-Chiquero, Ana & Popli, Gurleen & Ratcliffe, Anita, 2019. "Parental Ethnic Identity and Child Development," IZA Discussion Papers 12104, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Stuart Campbell, 2019. "National identity among economic and non-economic immigrants," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 411-438, June.
    12. Engdahl, Mattias, 2014. "Naturalizations and the economic and social integration of immigrants," Working Paper Series, Center for Labor Studies 2014:6, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    13. Carillo, Maria Rosaria & Lombardo, Vincenzo & Venittelli, Tiziana, 2021. "Identity and Labor Market Outcomes of Immigrants," GLO Discussion Paper Series 749, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    14. Stuart Campbell, 2014. "Does it matter why immigrants came here? Original motives, the labour market, and national identity in the UK," DoQSS Working Papers 14-14, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    15. Stuart Campbell & Ana Nuevo‐Chiquero & Gurleen Popli & Anita Ratcliffe, 2020. "Parental Ethnic Identity and Child Test Scores," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(4), pages 851-881, December.
    16. Prömel, Christopher, 2023. "Belonging or estrangement—The European Refugee Crisis and its effects on immigrant identity," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    17. Jolian McHardy & Anita Ratcliffe, 2017. "Identity conflict: A framework and empirical investigation," Working Papers 2017006, The University of Sheffield, Department of Economics.
    18. Raux, Morgan, 2023. "Cultural differences and immigrants’ wages," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    19. Engdahl, Mattias, 2014. "Naturalizations and the economic and social integration of immigrants," Working Paper Series 2014:11, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    20. Christina Gathmann & Ole Monscheuer, 2020. "Naturalization and citizenship: Who benefits?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 125-125, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:indres:v:60:y:2021:i:4:p:521-548. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0019-8676 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.