IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp11482.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Immigrant Responses to Social Insurance Generosity

Author

Listed:
  • Bratsberg, Bernt

    (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research)

  • Raaum, Oddbjørn

    (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research)

  • Røed, Knut

    (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research)

Abstract

Immigrants from low†income source countries tend to be underrepresented in employment and overrepresented in social insurance programs. Based on administrative data from Norway, we examine how these gaps reflect systematic differences in the impacts of social insurance benefits on work incentives. Drawing on a benefit formula reform of the temporary disability insurance program, we identify behavioral employment and earnings responses to changes in benefits, and find that responses are significantly larger for immigrants. Among female immigrant program participants, earnings of the male spouse also drop in response to more generous benefits. We uncover stronger behavioral responses among natives with characteristics similar to those of immigrants.

Suggested Citation

  • Bratsberg, Bernt & Raaum, Oddbjørn & Røed, Knut, 2018. "Immigrant Responses to Social Insurance Generosity," IZA Discussion Papers 11482, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11482
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp11482.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alan L. Gustman & Thomas L. Steinmeier, 2004. "Social security, pensions and retirement behaviour within the family," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(6), pages 723-737.
    2. Mullen, Kathleen J. & Staubli, Stefan, 2016. "Disability benefit generosity and labor force withdrawal," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 49-63.
    3. Alexander Gelber & Timothy J. Moore & Alexander Strand, 2017. "The Effect of Disability Insurance Payments on Beneficiaries' Earnings," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 229-261, August.
    4. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2007. "Changes in the Labor Supply Behavior of Married Women: 1980–2000," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 25(3), pages 393-438.
    5. Bound, John & Burkhauser, Richard V., 1999. "Economic analysis of transfer programs targeted on people with disabilities," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 51, pages 3417-3528, Elsevier.
    6. Dustmann, Christian & Glitz, Albrecht & Vogel, Thorsten, 2010. "Employment, wages, and the economic cycle: Differences between immigrants and natives," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 1-17, January.
    7. Regina T. Riphahn & Christoph Wunder, 2013. "Patterns of Welfare Dependence before and after a Reform: Evidence from First Generation Immigrants and Natives in Germany," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 59(3), pages 437-459, September.
    8. Robert Kaestner & Neeraj Kaushal, 2005. "Immigrant and native responses to welfare reform," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 18(1), pages 69-92, July.
    9. David H. Autor & Mark G. Duggan, 2003. "The Rise in the Disability Rolls and the Decline in Unemployment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 157-206.
    10. Marie, Olivier & Vall Castello, Judit, 2012. "Measuring the (income) effect of disability insurance generosity on labour market participation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 198-210.
    11. Ugo Colombino & Steinar Strøm & Rolf Aaberge, 2000. "Labor supply responses and welfare effects from replacing current tax rules by a flat tax: Empirical evidence from Italy, Norway and Sweden," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 13(4), pages 595-621.
    12. Knut Røed & Peter Jensen & Anna Thoursie, 2008. "Unemployment duration and unemployment insurance: a comparative analysis based on Scandinavian micro data," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 60(2), pages 254-274, April.
    13. Bratsberg, Bernt & Raaum, Oddbjørn & Røed, Knut, 2017. "Immigrant Labor Market Integration across Admission Classes," IZA Discussion Papers 10513, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Neeraj Kaushal, 2010. "Elderly immigrants' labor supply response to supplemental security income," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 137-162.
    15. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pc:p:3417-3528 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Moffitt, Robert, 1983. "An Economic Model of Welfare Stigma," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(5), pages 1023-1035, December.
    17. Bratsberg, Bernt & Raaum, Oddbjørn & Røed, Knut, 2020. "Immigrant Responses to Social Insurance Generosity," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    18. Blundell, Richard & Macurdy, Thomas, 1999. "Labor supply: A review of alternative approaches," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 27, pages 1559-1695, Elsevier.
    19. Kleven, Henrik Jacobsen & Schultz, Esben Anton, 2014. "Estimating taxable income responses using Danish tax reforms," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 66122, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Eric French & Jae Song, 2014. "The Effect of Disability Insurance Receipt on Labor Supply," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(2), pages 291-337, May.
    21. Matti Sarvimäki, 2011. "Assimilation to a Welfare State: Labor Market Performance and Use of Social Benefits by Immigrants to Finland," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 113(3), pages 665-688, September.
    22. Emmanuel Saez, 2002. "Optimal Income Transfer Programs: Intensive versus Extensive Labor Supply Responses," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(3), pages 1039-1073.
    23. Paul J. Devereux, 2004. "Changes in Relative Wages and Family Labor Supply," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 39(3).
    24. Olivier Bargain & Kristian Orsini & Andreas Peichl, 2014. "Comparing Labor Supply Elasticities in Europe and the United States: New Results," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(3), pages 723-838.
    25. Nicole Maestas & Kathleen J. Mullen & Alexander Strand, 2013. "Does Disability Insurance Receipt Discourage Work? Using Examiner Assignment to Estimate Causal Effects of SSDI Receipt," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(5), pages 1797-1829, August.
    26. Mari Rege & Kjetil Telle & Mark Votruba, 2009. "The Effect of Plant Downsizing on Disability Pension Utilization," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 7(4), pages 754-785, June.
    27. Bernt Bratsberg & Oddbjørn Raaum & Knut Røed, 2010. "When Minority Labor Migrants Meet the Welfare State," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(3), pages 633-676, July.
    28. Andreas Ravndal Kostol & Magne Mogstad, 2014. "How Financial Incentives Induce Disability Insurance Recipients to Return to Work," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(2), pages 624-655, February.
    29. Krueger, Alan B. & Meyer, Bruce D., 2002. "Labor supply effects of social insurance," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 33, pages 2327-2392, Elsevier.
    30. Olivier Bargain & Kristian Orsini & Andreas Peichl, 2012. "Comparing Labor Supply Elasticities in Europe and the US: New Results," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 525, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    31. Gaure, Simen & Roed, Knut & Zhang, Tao, 2007. "Time and causality: A Monte Carlo assessment of the timing-of-events approach," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 1159-1195, December.
    32. Bernt Bratsberg & Oddbjørn Raaum & Knut Røed, 2018. "Job Loss and Immigrant Labour Market Performance," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 85(337), pages 124-151, January.
    33. Knut Roed & Tao Zhang, 2003. "Does Unemployment Compensation Affect Unemployment Duration?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(484), pages 190-206, January.
    34. Magnus Henrekson & Mats Persson, 2004. "The Effects on Sick Leave of Changes in the Sickness Insurance System," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(1), pages 87-114, January.
    35. Helena Skyt Nielsen & Torben Sørensen & Christopher Taber, 2010. "Estimating the Effect of Student Aid on College Enrollment: Evidence from a Government Grant Policy Reform," NBER Chapters, in: Income Taxation, Trans-Atlantic Public Economics Seminar (TAPES), pages 185-215, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    36. Cullen, Julie Berry & Gruber, Jonathan, 2000. "Does Unemployment Insurance Crowd Out Spousal Labor Supply?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(3), pages 546-572, July.
    37. Elisabeth Fevang & Inés Hardoy & Knut Røed, 2017. "Temporary Disability and Economic Incentives," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(603), pages 1410-1432, August.
    38. David Autor & Andreas Kostøl & Magne Mogstad & Bradley Setzler, 2019. "Disability Benefits, Consumption Insurance, and Household Labor Supply," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(7), pages 2613-2654, July.
    39. Gruber, Jon & Saez, Emmanuel, 2002. "The elasticity of taxable income: evidence and implications," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 1-32, April.
    40. Coile Courtney, 2004. "Retirement Incentives and Couples' Retirement Decisions," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 1-30, July.
    41. Max Nielsen & Jos Smit & Jordi Guillen, 2009. "Market Integration of Fish in Europe," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(2), pages 367-385, June.
    42. Jorgen Hansen & Magnus Lofstrom, 2011. "Immigrant–Native Differences in Welfare Participation: The Role of Entry and Exit Rates," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 412-442, July.
    43. Lex Borghans & Anne C. Gielen & Erzo F. P. Luttmer, 2014. "Social Support Substitution and the Earnings Rebound: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity in Disability Insurance Reform," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 34-70, November.
    44. Tammy Schirle, 2008. "Why Have the Labor Force Participation Rates of Older Men Increased since the Mid-1990s?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(4), pages 549-594, October.
    45. Mark Duggan & Robert Rosenheck & Perry Singleton, 2010. "Federal Policy and the Rise in Disability Enrollment: Evidence for the Veterans Affairs' Disability Compensation Program," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(2), pages 379-398, May.
    46. Borjas, George J., 2003. "Welfare reform, labor supply, and health insurance in the immigrant population," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(6), pages 933-958, November.
    47. East, Chloe N., 2018. "Immigrants’ labor supply response to Food Stamp access," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 202-226.
    48. Markussen, Simen & Røed, Knut, 2014. "The impacts of vocational rehabilitation," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 1-13.
    49. Bratsberg, Bernt & Fevang, Elisabeth & Røed, Knut, 2013. "Job loss and disability insurance," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 137-150.
    50. Erling Barth & Bernt Bratsberg & Oddbjørn Raaum, 2004. "Identifying Earnings Assimilation of Immigrants under Changing Macroeconomic Conditions," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 106(1), pages 1-22, March.
    51. Henrik Jacobsen Kleven & Esben Anton Schultz, 2014. "Estimating Taxable Income Responses Using Danish Tax Reforms," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 271-301, November.
    52. Knut Røed & Lars Westlie, 2012. "Unemployment Insurance In Welfare States: The Impacts Of Soft Duration Constraints," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(3), pages 518-554, May.
    53. Aakvik, Arild & Heckman, James J. & Vytlacil, Edward J., 2005. "Estimating treatment effects for discrete outcomes when responses to treatment vary: an application to Norwegian vocational rehabilitation programs," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 125(1-2), pages 15-51.
    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. Dias, Felipe A & Chance, Joseph, 2021. "COVID-19, Public Charge Rules, and Immigrant Employment in the United States," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt37f8w4sf, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    2. Åslund, Olof & Larsson, Fredrik & Laun, Lisa, 2024. "Joining late, leaving early? Immigrant-native disparities in labor market exit," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    3. Bratsberg, Bernt & Raaum, Oddbjørn & Røed, Knut, 2020. "Immigrant Responses to Social Insurance Generosity," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).

    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. Andreas Haller & Stefan Staubli & Josef Zweimüller, 2024. "Designing Disability Insurance Reforms: Tightening Eligibility Rules or Reducing Benefits?," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 92(1), pages 79-110, January.
    2. Fevang, Elisabeth & Hardoy, Inés & Røed, Knut, 2013. "Getting Disabled Workers Back to Work: How Important Are Economic Incentives?," IZA Discussion Papers 7137, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Chiara Dal Bianco, 2023. "Disability Insurance and the Effects of Return-to-work Policies," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 49, pages 351-373, July.
    4. Andersen, Asbjørn Goul & Markussen, Simen & Røed, Knut, 2019. "Local labor demand and participation in social insurance programs," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    5. Mario Bernasconi & Tunga Kantarcı & Arthur Soest & Jan-Maarten Sonsbeek, 2024. "The added worker effect: evidence from a disability insurance reform," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1275-1316, December.
    6. Seibold, Arthur & Seitz, Sebastian & Siegloch, Sebastian, 2022. "Privatizing Disability Insurance," CEPR Discussion Papers 17568, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Alexander Gelber & Timothy J. Moore & Alexander Strand, 2017. "The Effect of Disability Insurance Payments on Beneficiaries' Earnings," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 229-261, August.
    8. Chiara Dal Bianco, 2019. "Labour Supply and Welfare Effects of Disability Insurance: A Survey," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 5(1), pages 161-189, March.
    9. David H. Autor & Mark Duggan & Kyle Greenberg & David S. Lyle, 2016. "The Impact of Disability Benefits on Labor Supply: Evidence from the VA's Disability Compensation Program," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 8(3), pages 31-68, July.
    10. Deuchert, Eva & Eugster, Beatrix, 2019. "Income and substitution effects of a disability insurance reform," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 1-14.
    11. Hamish Low & Luigi Pistaferri, 2020. "Disability Insurance: Theoretical Trade‐Offs and Empirical Evidence," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(1), pages 129-164, March.
    12. Bratsberg, Bernt & Raaum, Oddbjørn & Røed, Knut, 2017. "Immigrant Labor Market Integration across Admission Classes," IZA Discussion Papers 10513, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Bjørneby, Marie & Markussen, Simen & Røed, Knut, 2020. "Does the Wealth Tax Kill Jobs?," IZA Discussion Papers 13766, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Marie Bjørneby & Simen Markussen & Knut Røed, 2023. "An imperfect wealth tax and employment in closely held firms," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(358), pages 557-583, April.
    15. Florian Buhlmann & Benjamin Elsner & Andreas Peichl, 2018. "Tax refunds and income manipulation: evidence from the EITC," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(6), pages 1490-1518, December.
    16. Klára Kalíšková, 2020. "Tax and transfer policies and the female labor supply in the EU," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 749-775, February.
    17. Hans Schytte Sigaard, 2022. "Labor Supply Responsiveness to Tax Reforms," Economics Working Papers 2022-04, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    18. Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2018. "Social Insurance and Health," Contributions to Economic Analysis, in: Health Econometrics, volume 127, pages 57-84, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    19. Gordon B. Dahl & Anne C. Gielen, 2021. "Intergenerational Spillovers in Disability Insurance," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 116-150, April.
    20. Knut Røed, 2012. "Active social insurance," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-22, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    social insurance; labor supply; immigrants;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:iza:izadps:dp11482. 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: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    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.