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The impact of citizenship on intermarriage: Quasi-experimental evidence from two European Union Eastern enlargements

Author

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  • Davide Azzolini

    (Istituto per la Ricerca Valutativa sulle Politiche Pubbliche (IRVAPP))

  • Raffaele Guetto

    (Università degli Studi di Firenze)

Abstract

Background: According to assimilation theory, the more immigrants are integrated within host countries the more likely they are to intermarry. However, status exchange theory argues instead that when integration is low, immigrants may use intermarriage as a means of improving their integration prospects in host countries, in which case an increase in levels of integration would reduce immigrants’ propensity to intermarry. Objective: To test these two hypotheses, this paper assesses the causal effect of a positive shift in immigrants’ level of integration, namely the acquisition of citizenship, on intermarriage in Italy. Over the past 20 years Italy has experienced an unprecedented growth in intermarriage involving primarily Eastern European women. Methods: We study two EU Eastern enlargements, following which citizens of the new EU member countries became EU citizens and thus experienced a marked improvement in their legal status. We apply the synthetic control method to data on marriages between native men and foreign women. Results: We find that the acquisition of citizenship has a significant negative impact on immigrant women’s propensity to marry native men. That impact is much greater for immigrants coming from less affluent countries. Conclusions: Our results support the status exchange hypothesis. This can be explained by the poor socioeconomic integration and precarious legal status of immigrants in Italy. Contribution: The growth of intermarriage per se cannot be seen as an indicator of greater immigrant integration. The negative impact of citizenship acquisition on immigrants’ propensity to intermarry also calls for a rethinking of the role of institutions such as marriage and citizenship in the process of immigrant integration.

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  • Davide Azzolini & Raffaele Guetto, 2017. "The impact of citizenship on intermarriage: Quasi-experimental evidence from two European Union Eastern enlargements," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(43), pages 1299-1336.
  • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:36:y:2017:i:43
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2017.36.43
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    Cited by:

    1. Eva Dziadula, 2020. "Marriage and Citizenship Among U.S. Immigrants: Who Marries Whom and Who Becomes a Citizen?," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 46(1), pages 34-52, January.
    2. Adda, Jérôme & Pinotti, Paolo & Tura, Giulia, 2020. "There's More to Marriage than Love: The Effect of Legal Status and Cultural Distance on Intermarriages and Separations," CEPR Discussion Papers 14432, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Raffaele Guetto & Valentina Tocchioni & Daniele Vignoli, 2023. "The Causal Impact of Temporary Employment on First Births in Italy: An Update," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2023_06, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    4. Giambattista Salinari & Federico Benassi & Gianni Carboni, 2023. "The Effect of the Great Recession on Italian Life Expectancy," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-15, February.
    5. Ivana Fellini & Raffaele Guetto, 2019. "Legal Status and Immigrants’ Labour Market Outcomes: Comparative Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment in Western and Southern Europe," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2019_11, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    6. Davide Azzolini & Raffaele Guetto & Joan Eliel Madia, 2017. "Do Mixed Unions Foster Integration? The Educational Outcomes of Mixed-Parentage Children in Italy," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 1033-1060, November.
    7. Eva Dziadula, 2022. "Match quality and divorce among naturalized U.S. citizens," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 89(1), pages 37-61, July.
    8. Annika Elwert, 2020. "Opposites Attract: Assortative Mating and Immigrant–Native Intermarriage in Contemporary Sweden," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 36(4), pages 675-709, September.
    9. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Arenas-Arroyo, Esther & Wang, Chunbei, 2020. "Is immigration enforcement shaping immigrant marriage patterns?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    10. Bansak, Cynthia & Dziadula, Eva & Zavodny, Madeline, 2023. "The value of a green card in the U.S. marriage market: A tale of chain migration?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    11. Yang Hu, 2017. "Attitudes toward transnational intermarriage in China: Testing three theories of transnationalization," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(44), pages 1413-1444.
    12. Bastian Schulz & Fabian Siuda, 2020. "Marriage and Divorce: The Role of Labor Market Institutions," CESifo Working Paper Series 8508, CESifo.
    13. Nazareno Panichella & Maurizio Ambrosini, 2018. "Between Fears, Contacts and Family Dynamics: the Anti-Immigrant Attitudes in Italy," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 391-411, May.
    14. Litovchenko, A. & Chudinovskikh, O., 2022. "On the impact of acquiring citizenship on some socio-economic characteristics of migrants and their position in the labor market," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 53(1), pages 143-162.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    intermarriage; citizenship; immigration; assimilation; quasi-experiment; Italy; legal status;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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