IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/osf/socarx/24qas_v1.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Effect of Citizenship on the Long-Term Earnings of Marginalized Immigrants: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Switzerland

Author

Listed:
  • Hainmueller, Jens
  • Hangartner, Dominik
  • Ward, Dalston

Abstract

We provide evidence that citizenship catalyzes the long-term economic integration of immigrants. Despite the relevance of citizenship policy to immigrant integration, we lack a reliable understanding of the economic consequences of acquiring citizenship. To overcome non-random selection into naturalization, we exploit the quasi-random assignment of citizenship in Swiss municipalities that held referendums to decide the outcome of individual naturalization applications. Our data combines individual-level referendum results with detailed social security records from the Swiss authorities. This allows us to compare the long-term earnings of otherwise similar immigrants who barely won or lost their referendum. We find that winning Swiss citizenship in the referendum increased annual earnings by an average of approximately 5,000 U.S. dollars over the subsequent 15 years. This effect is concentrated among more marginalized immigrants.

Suggested Citation

  • Hainmueller, Jens & Hangartner, Dominik & Ward, Dalston, 2019. "The Effect of Citizenship on the Long-Term Earnings of Marginalized Immigrants: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Switzerland," SocArXiv 24qas_v1, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:24qas_v1
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/24qas_v1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://osf.io/download/5c65cd25f9de850018310617/
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.31219/osf.io/24qas_v1?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. Algan, Yann & Bisin, Alberto & Manning, Alan & Verdier, Thierry (ed.), 2012. "Cultural Integration of Immigrants in Europe," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199660094.
    2. Hainmueller, Jens & Hangartner, Dominik & Pietrantuono, Giuseppe, 2017. "Catalyst or Crown: Does Naturalization Promote the Long-Term Social Integration of Immigrants?," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 111(2), pages 256-276, May.
    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. Gina Potarca & Laura Bernardi, 2018. "Mixed marriages in Switzerland: A test of the segmented assimilation hypothesis," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(48), pages 1457-1494.
    2. Eleftherios Giovanis & Sacit Hadi Akdede, 2021. "Integration Policies in Spain and Sweden: Do They Matter for Migrants’ Economic Integration and Socio-Cultural Participation?," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, October.
    3. Hainmueller, Jens & Hangartner, Dominik & Ward, Dalston, 2019. "The Effect of Citizenship on the Long-Term Earnings of Marginalized Immigrants: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Switzerland," SocArXiv 24qas, Center for Open Science.
    4. Bisin, Alberto & Verdier, Thierry, 2017. "Inequality, redistribution and cultural integration in the Welfare State," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 122-140.
    5. 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.
    6. 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).
    7. Prummer, Anja & Siedlarek, Jan-Peter, 2014. "Institutions And The Preservation Of Cultural Traits," Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems 470, Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Bonn, University of Mannheim, University of Munich.
    8. Tommaso Frattini, 2017. "Integration of immigrants in host countries - what we know and what works," Development Working Papers 427, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
    9. Juan Galeano & Aurélie Pont & Philippe Wanner, 2022. "A Longitudinal Analysis of Naturalization and International Migration in Switzerland, 2011–2017," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 889-910, June.
    10. 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.
    11. Francesco Fasani & Tommaso Frattini & Maxime Pirot, 2023. "From Refugees to Citizens: Labor Market Returns to Naturalization," Development Working Papers 489, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano, revised 11 Jun 2024.
    12. Buechel, Berno & Gangl, Selina & Huber, Martin, 2023. "How residence permits affect the labor market attachment of foreign workers: Evidence from a migration lottery in Liechtenstein," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    13. Erin Trouth Hofmann & Claudia Méndez Wright & Emma Meade Earl, 2021. "Gender, Family, and Community Attachment in a New Destination," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 227-245, March.
    14. Cyrine Hannafi & Mohamed Ali Marouani, 2023. "Social integration of Syrian refugees and their intention to stay in Germany," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(2), pages 581-607, April.
    15. Rania Gihleb & Osea Giuntalla & Luca Stella, 2022. "Exposure to Past Immigration Waves and Attitudes toward Newcomers," CESifo Working Paper Series 9941, CESifo.
    16. Zhiling Wang & Thomas de Graaff & Peter Nijkamp, 2018. "Barriers of Culture, Networks, and Language in International Migration: A Review," REGION, European Regional Science Association, vol. 5, pages 73-89.
    17. Böhmelt, Tobias & Bove, Vincenzo, 2017. "How Migration Policies Moderate the Diffusion of Terrorism," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 349, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    18. Hangartner, Dominik & Sarvimäki, Matti & Spirig, Judith, 2021. "Managing Refugee Protection Crises: Policy Lessons from Economics and Political Science," IZA Discussion Papers 14821, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Arye L. Hillman & Ngo Long, 2022. "Immigrants as future voters," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 190(1), pages 149-174, January.
    20. Francesco Giavazzi & Ivan Petkov & Fabio Schiantarelli, 2019. "Culture: persistence and evolution," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 117-154, June.

    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:osf:socarx:24qas_v1. 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: OSF (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://arabixiv.org .

    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.