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Is There a Numbers versus Rights Trade-off in Immigration Policy? What the Data Say

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  • Cummins, Matthew
  • Rodriguez, Francisco

Abstract

This paper explores the empirical support behind the idea that there is a trade-off between the size of the migrant population and the rights and entitlements enjoyed by immigrants. We first look at the empirical correlation between measures of migrants’ rights and the size of the stock of immigrants in a number of existing databases. Using data on migrants’ rights from three recent studies—the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Migrant Accessibility Index, the Migration Policy Group and British Council’s Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) and the Human Development Report Office’s Migrant Entitlements and Services Index—we fail to find a systematic correlation of any sign. We then turn to regression analysis using OLS and instrumental variable techniques and again fail to find evidence in favor of the existence of a correlation. The numerical magnitudes of the correlations suggest a quantitatively small relationship which in several cases is positive rather than negative.

Suggested Citation

  • Cummins, Matthew & Rodriguez, Francisco, 2009. "Is There a Numbers versus Rights Trade-off in Immigration Policy? What the Data Say," MPRA Paper 19204, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:19204
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Clemens, Michael A. & Montenegro, Claudio E. & Pritchett, Lant, 2008. "The place premium : wage differences for identical workers across the US border," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4671, The World Bank.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jeni Klugman & Isabel Medalho Pereira, 2009. "Assessment of National Migration Policies: An emerging picture on admissions, treatment and enforcement in developing and developed countries," Human Development Research Papers (2009 to present) HDRP-2009-48, Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), revised Oct 2009.
    2. Andreas T. Schmidt & Daan Juijn, 2024. "Economic inequality and the long-term future," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 23(1), pages 67-99, February.
    3. John Gibson & David McKenzie & Halahingano Rohorua, 2014. "Development Impacts of Seasonal and Temporary Migration: A Review of Evidence from the Pacific and Southeast Asia," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(1), pages 18-32, January.

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    JEL classification:

    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

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