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The fiscal aspect of the refugee crisis

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  • Joakim Ruist

    (University of Gothenburg)

Abstract

An important part of the resistance to higher refugee immigration in rich countries is due to the fear of the negative fiscal consequences. Yet this article shows that the fiscal consequences even of substantially increased refugee immigration are likely to be quite modest. According to the estimates, if the European Union received all refugees currently in Asia and Africa, the implied average annual fiscal cost over the lifetime of these refugees would be at most 0.6% of the union’s GDP. If other rich countries also shared the burden, the cost per country would be even lower.

Suggested Citation

  • Joakim Ruist, 2020. "The fiscal aspect of the refugee crisis," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(2), pages 478-492, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:itaxpf:v:27:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s10797-019-09585-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s10797-019-09585-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Timothy Miller & Ronald Lee, 2000. "Immigration, Social Security, and Broader Fiscal Impacts," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(2), pages 350-354, May.
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    3. Ian Preston, 2014. "The Effect of Immigration on Public Finances," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 124(580), pages 569-592, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kärnä, Anders & Öhberg, Patrik, 2022. "Misrepresentation and Migration," Working Paper Series 1445, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 11 May 2023.
    2. Christl, Michael & Papini, Andrea & Tumino, Alberto, 2020. "Heterogeneity in effective VAT rates across native and migrant households in France, Germany and Spain," GLO Discussion Paper Series 723, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. 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).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Refugees; Immigration; Public finances;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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