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

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  • 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.

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  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:socarx:24qas
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/24qas
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    1. Yann Algan & Alberto Bisin & Alan Manning & Thierry Verdier, 2012. "Cultural Integration of Immigrants in Europe," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) hal-00812826, HAL.
    2. Algan, Yann & Bisin, Alberto & Manning, Alan & Verdier, Thierry (ed.), 2012. "Cultural Integration of Immigrants in Europe," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199660094.
    3. Dancygier,Rafaela M., 2010. "Immigration and Conflict in Europe," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521150231.
    4. Dancygier,Rafaela M., 2010. "Immigration and Conflict in Europe," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521199070.
    5. 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.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ludolph, Lars, 2023. "The value of formal host-country education for the labour market position of refugees: Evidence from Austria," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    2. Simone Bertoli & Morgane Laouenan & Jérôme Valette, 2022. "Border Apprehensions and Federal Sentencing of Hispanic Citizens in the United States," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03818735, HAL.
    3. Hans Lueders, 2022. "Licensed to Drive, but Not to Work: The Labor Market Effects of Driver Licenses for Unauthorized Immigrants," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 5(2), pages 98-114, June.
    4. Yajna Govind, 2021. "Is naturalization a passport for better labor market integration? Evidence from a quasi-experimental setting," PSE Working Papers halshs-03265055, HAL.
    5. Fasani, Francesco & Frattini, Tommaso & Pirot, Maxime, 2023. "From Refugees to Citizens: Labor Market Returns to Naturalization," IZA Discussion Papers 16651, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Achim Ahrens & Alessandra Stampi-Bombelli & Selina Kurer & Dominik Hangartner, 2023. "Optimal multi-action treatment allocation: A two-phase field experiment to boost immigrant naturalization," Papers 2305.00545, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2024.
    7. Arendt, Jacob Nielsen & Dustmann, Christian & Ku, Hyejin, 2023. "Permanent Residency and Refugee Immigrants' Skill Investment," IZA Discussion Papers 16313, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Claudio Deiana & Ludovica Giua & Roberto Nisticò, "undated". "Legalization and Long-Term Outcomes of Immigrant Workers," Development Working Papers 480, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
    9. 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).
    10. 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.
    11. Gathmann, Christina & Garbers, Julio, 2023. "Citizenship and integration," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    12. Berggren, Niclas & Ljunge, Martin & Nilsson, Therese, 2022. "Immigrants’ Tolerance and Integration into Society," Working Paper Series 1447, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    13. Claudio Deiana & Ludovica Giua & Roberto Nisticò, 2021. "Getting Off on the Wrong Foot: The Long-Term Effects of Missing a Large-Scale Amnesty for Immigrant Workers," CSEF Working Papers 625, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    14. Christina Gathmann & Ole Monscheuer & Christina Felfe & Helmut Rainer & Swantje Falcke & Paolo Pinotti & Graziella Bertocchi & Chiara Strozzi, 2020. "Naturalization of (Young) Migrants: Catalyst or Reward for Successful Integration?," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 73(11), pages 03-24, November.
    15. Lars Ludolph, 2021. "The Value of Formal Host-Country Education for the Labour Market Position of Refugees: Evidence from Austria," CESifo Working Paper Series 9241, CESifo.
    16. Swantje Falcke, 2020. "Naturalization as a Catalyst for Integration: A Heterogeneous Picture," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 21(04), pages 23-24, November.
    17. Cole, Matthew A. & Jabbour, Liza & Ozgen, Ceren & Yumoto, Hiromi, 2024. "Refugees' Economic Integration and Firms," IZA Discussion Papers 16828, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Litovchenko, A. & Chudinovskikh, O., 2022. "On the impact of acquiring citizenship on some socio-economic characteristics of migrants and their position in the labor market," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 53(1), pages 143-162.
    19. Ludolph, Lars, 2023. "The value of formal host-country education for the labour market position of refugees: evidence from Austria," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 117392, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Morgan Raux, 2021. "Cultural differences and immigrants' wages," DEM Discussion Paper Series 21-02, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.

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