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The Political Economy of Immigration

Author

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  • Alex Cukierman

    (The Foerder Institute for Economic Research, TAU)

  • Zvi Hercowitz
  • David Pines

Abstract

In many democratic countries immigrants obtain voting rights only after seveal years. This paper provides an explanation for this phenomenon in the framework of a dynamic migration model of two countries (North-South). In this framework individuals differ in their preferences regarding the supply of a public good, or more generally, regarding some public policy issue. The individual migration decision takes into account both the pecuniary opportunities and the supplies of the public good - which are determined by majority vote in the respective countries. Everyone has been an immigrant at some time in the past. In equilibrium, however, there is an intrinsic political conflict between residents of different "vintages", which implies that longer-time residents are better off postponing the granting of voting rights to more recent immigrants.

Suggested Citation

  • Alex Cukierman & Zvi Hercowitz & David Pines, 1994. "The Political Economy of Immigration," Public Economics 9405002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwppe:9405002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hercowitz, Zvi & Pines, David, 1991. "Migration with fiscal externalities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 163-180, November.
    2. Grossman, Herschel I, 1994. "Production, Appropriation, and Land Reform," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(3), pages 705-712, June.
    3. McCall, B P & McCall, J J, 1987. "A Sequential Study of Migration and Job Search," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 5(4), pages 452-476, October.
    4. Razin, Assaf & Sadka, Efraim, 1993. "International migration and international trade," Handbook of Population and Family Economics, in: M. R. Rosenzweig & Stark, O. (ed.), Handbook of Population and Family Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 15, pages 851-887, Elsevier.
    5. Westhoff, Frank, 1977. "Existence of equilibria in economies with a local public good," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 84-112, February.
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    7. Mortensen, Dale T., 1987. "Job search and labor market analysis," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & R. Layard (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 15, pages 849-919, Elsevier.
    8. Alesina, Alberto & Özler, Sule & Roubini, Nouriel & Swagel, Phillip, 1996. "Political Instability and Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 189-211, June.
    9. Hercowitz, Zvi & Pines, David, 1997. "Migration between home country and diaspora: An economic analysis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 45-59, July.
    10. Myers, Gordon M., 1990. "Optimality, free mobility, and the regional authority in a federation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 107-121, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gil Epstein & Shmuel Nitzan, 2006. "The struggle over migration policy," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 19(4), pages 703-723, October.
    2. Nir Dagan & Oscar Volij, 2000. "Formation of Nations in a Welfare‐State Minded World," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 2(2), pages 157-181, April.
    3. Fabio Mariani, 2013. "The political economy of naturalization," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 46(2), pages 656-688, May.
    4. Fabio, MARIANI, 2004. "The Political Economy of Immigrants Naturalization," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2004022, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    5. Guy Gilbert, 1996. "Le fédéralisme financier, perspectives de microéconomie spatiale," Revue Économique, Programme National Persée, vol. 47(2), pages 311-363.
    6. Noel Gaston & Douglas R. Nelson, 2013. "Bridging Trade Theory And Labour Econometrics: The Effects Of International Migration," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 98-139, February.
    7. Michel, Ph. & Pestieau, P. & Vidal, J. -P., 1998. "Labor migration and redistribution with alternative assimilation policies: The small economy case," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 363-377, May.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D6 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics
    • D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
    • H - Public Economics

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