IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/osf/socarx/8u3yv_v1.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does access to citizenship confer socio-economic returns? Evidence from a randomized control design

Author

Listed:
  • Hainmueller, Jens
  • Cascardi, Elisa

    (Stanford University)

  • Hotard, Michael
  • Koslowski, Rey
  • Lawrence, Duncan
  • Yasenov, Vasil
  • Laitin, David

Abstract

Based on observational studies, conventional wisdom suggests that citizenship carries economic benefits. We leverage a randomized experiment from New York where low-income registrants who wanted to become citizens entered a lottery to receive fee vouchers to naturalize. Voucher recipients were about 36 p.p. more likely to naturalize. Yet, we find no discernible effects of access to citizenship on several economic outcomes, including income, credit scores, access to credit, financial distress, and employment. Leveraging a multi-dimensional immigrant integration index, we similarly find no measurable effects on non-economic integration. However, we do find that citizenship reduces fears of deportation. Explaining our divergence from past studies, our results also reveal evidence of positive selection into citizenship, suggesting that observational studies of citizenship are susceptible to selection bias.

Suggested Citation

  • Hainmueller, Jens & Cascardi, Elisa & Hotard, Michael & Koslowski, Rey & Lawrence, Duncan & Yasenov, Vasil & Laitin, David, 2023. "Does access to citizenship confer socio-economic returns? Evidence from a randomized control design," SocArXiv 8u3yv_v1, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:8u3yv_v1
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/8u3yv_v1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://osf.io/download/646287df1a36883529548328/
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.31219/osf.io/8u3yv_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. Sajons, Christoph, 2019. "Birthright citizenship and parental labor market integration," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-22.
    2. Christina Gathmann & Ole Monscheuer, 2020. "Naturalization and citizenship: Who benefits?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 125-125, April.
    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. Hainmueller, Jens & Cascardi, Elisa & Hotard, Michael & Koslowski, Rey & Lawrence, Duncan & Yasenov, Vasil & Laitin, David, 2023. "Does access to citizenship confer socio-economic returns? Evidence from a randomized control design," SocArXiv 8u3yv, Center for Open Science.
    2. 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.
    3. Hainmueller, Jens & Cascardi, Elisa & Hotard, Michael & Koslowski, Rey & Lawrence, Duncan & Yasenov, Vasil & Laitin, David D., 2023. "Does Access to Citizenship Confer Socio-Economic Returns? Evidence from a Randomized Control Design," IZA Discussion Papers 16173, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Hinte Holger & Rinne Ulf & Zimmermann Klaus F., 2016. "Punkte machen?!: Warum Deutschland ein aktives Auswahlsystem für ausländische Fachkräfte braucht und wie ein solches System aussehen kann," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 17(1), pages 68-87, April.
    5. 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.
    6. Sakiru Adebola Solarin & Muhammed Sehid Gorus & Onder Ozgur, 2024. "Modelling the economic effect of inbound birth tourism: a random forest algorithm approach," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 4223-4240, October.
    7. Juliana Mohd Abdul Kadir & Navaz Naghavi & Geetha Subramaniam & Nur A’amilyn Abdul Halim, 2020. "Unemployment among Graduates - Is there a Mismatch?," International Journal of Asian Social Science, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 10(10), pages 583-592, October.
    8. Christina Gathmann & Ole Monscheuer, 2020. "Does Citizenship Foster Economic and Social Integration?," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 21(04), pages 08-13, November.
    9. Lochmann, Alexia & Rapoport, Hillel & Speciale, Biagio, 2019. "The effect of language training on immigrants’ economic integration: Empirical evidence from France," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 265-296.
    10. Celina Proffen & Franziska Riepl, 2024. "Does a Passport Get You a Degree? Citizenship Reform and Educational Achievement," CESifo Working Paper Series 11483, CESifo.
    11. 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.
    12. Murard, Elie, 2023. "Long-term effects of the 1923 mass refugee inflow on social cohesion in Greece," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    13. Clara Albrecht & Yvonne Giesing & Daria Schaller, 2020. "How to Become an EU Citizen: The Acquisition of Citizenship via Naturalization," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 21(04), pages 41-46, November.
    14. Hinte, Holger & Rinne, Ulf & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2015. "Punkte machen?! Warum Deutschland ein aktives Auswahlsystem für ausländische Fachkräfte braucht," IZA Standpunkte 79, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Gathmann, Christina & Garbers, Julio, 2023. "Citizenship and integration," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    16. 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.
    17. Floris Peters & Hans Schmeets & Maarten Vink, 2020. "Naturalisation and Immigrant Earnings: Why and to Whom Citizenship Matters," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 36(3), pages 511-545, July.
    18. Raux, Morgan, 2023. "Cultural differences and immigrants’ wages," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    19. Elisa Barbiano di Belgiojoso & Livia Elisa Ortensi, 2022. "Who Wants to Become Italian? A Study of Interest in Naturalisation among Foreign Migrants in Italy," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(5), pages 1095-1118, December.

    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:8u3yv_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.