IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/reggov/v14y2020i1p63-81.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Explaining the birthright citizenship lottery: Longitudinal and cross‐national evidence for key determinants

Author

Listed:
  • Omer Solodoch
  • Udi Sommer

Abstract

In the modern nation‐state, birthright citizenship laws – jus soli and jus sanguinis – are the two main gateways to sociopolitical membership. The vast majority of the world's population (97 percent) obtains their citizenship as a matter of birthright. Yet because comparative research has focused on measuring and explaining the multiple components of citizenship and immigration policies, a systematic analysis of birthright citizenship is lacking. We bridge this gap by analyzing the birthright component in prominent databases on citizenship policies and complementing them with original data and measures. This allows us to systematically test institutional and electoral explanations for contemporary and over‐time variation in birthright citizenship. Institutional explanations – legal codes and colonial history – are consistently associated with limitations on birthright law. As for electoral explanations, specific electoral powers – Nationalist, Socialist and Social‐Democratic parties – rather than the traditional left/right‐wing divide, are linked with reforms in birthright regimes.

Suggested Citation

  • Omer Solodoch & Udi Sommer, 2020. "Explaining the birthright citizenship lottery: Longitudinal and cross‐national evidence for key determinants," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(1), pages 63-81, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:reggov:v:14:y:2020:i:1:p:63-81
    DOI: 10.1111/rego.12197
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12197
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/rego.12197?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. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 1999. "The Quality of Government," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 222-279, April.
    2. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 2003. "Law and finance: why does legal origin matter?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 653-675, December.
    3. Graziella Bertocchi & Chiara Strozzi, 2010. "The Evolution of Citizenship: Economic and Institutional Determinants," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(1), pages 95-136, February.
    4. Koopmans, Ruud & Michalowski, Ines, 2017. "Why Do States Extend Rights to Immigrants? Institutional Settings and Historical Legacies Across 44 Countries Worldwide," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 50(1), pages 41-74.
    5. V. Mueller & C. Gray & K. Kosec, 2014. "Heat stress increases long-term human migration in rural Pakistan," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(3), pages 182-185, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Kumar, Sanjesh & Singh, Baljeet, 2019. "Barriers to the international diffusion of technological innovations," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 74-86.
    2. Simplice A. Asongu & Joseph I. Uduji & Elda N. Okolo‐Obasi, 2020. "Drivers and Persistence of Death in Conflicts: Global Evidence," World Affairs, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 183(4), pages 389-429, December.
    3. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2019. "Governance, capital flight and industrialisation in Africa," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 8(1), pages 1-22, December.
    4. Simplice A. Asongu, 2015. "Law,Finance, Economic Growth and Welfare: Why Does Legal Origin Matter?," Institutions and Economies (formerly known as International Journal of Institutions and Economies), Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, vol. 7(2), pages 30-55, July.
    5. Simplice Asongu & Rexon Nting, 2020. "The comparative economics of financial access in gender economic inclusion," African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(2), pages 193-207, December.
    6. Asongu, Simplice & Boateng, Agyenim & Akamavi, Raphael, 2016. "Mobile Phone Innovation and Inclusive Human Development: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," MPRA Paper 75046, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Vincenzo Alfano & Salvatore Capasso & Rajeev K. Goel, 2021. "EU accession: A boon or bane for corruption?," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 45(1), pages 1-21, January.
    8. Simplice A. Asongu, Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2022. "Information for banking efficiency in Africa: evidence from income levels and legal origins," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 19(2), pages 251-274, December.
    9. Simplice A. Asongu & Joseph Nnanna, 2020. "Governance and the Capital Flight Trap in Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 20/024, African Governance and Development Institute..
    10. Mohammad Amin & Priya Ranjan, 2008. "When Does Legal Origin Matter?," Working Papers 080912, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics.
    11. Buchen, Clemens, 2010. "Emerging economic systems in Central and Eastern Europe – a qualitative and quantitative assessment," EconStor Theses, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 37141, January.
    12. Djankov, Simeon & McLiesh, Caralee & Shleifer, Andrei, 2007. "Private credit in 129 countries," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 299-329, May.
    13. Katarzyna Burzynska & Olle Berggren, 2015. "The Impact of Social Beliefs on Microfinance Performance," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(7), pages 1074-1097, October.
    14. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Cristian Pop-Eleches & Andrei Shleifer, 2004. "Judicial Checks and Balances," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(2), pages 445-470, April.
    15. Simplice ASONGU, 2011. "Why Do French Civil Law Countries Have Higher Levels Of Financial Efficiency," Journal of Advanced Research in Law and Economics, ASERS Publishing, vol. 2(4), pages 94-108.
    16. Easterly, William & Levine, Ross, 2003. "Tropics, germs, and crops: how endowments influence economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 3-39, January.
    17. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 2003. "Law, endowments, and finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 137-181, November.
    18. Simplice A. Asongu, 2021. "The Effects of Mobile Phone Technology, Knowledge Creation and Diffusion on Inclusive Human Development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(3), pages 1367-1398, September.
    19. Adrian Grosanu & Cristina Bota-Avram & Paula Ramona Rachisan & Roumen Vesselinov, 2015. "The Influence of Country-Level Governance on Business Environment and Entrepreneurship: a Global Perspective," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 17(38), pages 1-60, February.
    20. Davis, Lewis S. & Williamson, Claudia R., 2016. "Culture and the regulation of entry," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 1055-1083.

    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:wly:reggov:v:14:y:2020:i:1:p:63-81. 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: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1748-5991 .

    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.