The Political Economy of Immigration Policy

Giovanni Facchini and Anna Maria Mayda

No HDRP-2009-03, Human Development Research Papers (2009 to present) from Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Abstract: We analyze a newly available dataset of migration policy decisions reported by governments to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs between 1976 and 2007. We find evidence indicating that most governments have policies aimed at either maintaining the status quo or at lowering the level of migration. We also document variation in migration policy over time and across countries of different regions and income levels. Finally, we examine patterns in various aspects of destination countries’ migration policies (policies towards family reunification, temporary vs. permanent migration, high-skilled migration). This analysis leads us to investigate the determinants of migration policy in a destination country. We develop a political economy framework in which voter attitudes represent a key component. We survey the literature on the determinants of public opinion towards immigrants and examine the link between these attitudes and governments’ policy decisions. While we find evidence broadly consistent with the median voter model, we conclude that this framework is not sufficient to understand actual migration policies. We discuss evidence which suggests that interest-groups dynamics may play a very important role.

Keywords: immigration; immigration policy; median voter; interest groups; political economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 F5 J6 O1 O15 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 61 pages
Date: 2009-04, Revised 2009-04
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published as background research for the 2009 Human Development Report.

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Political Economy of Immigration Policy (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hdr:papers:hdrp-2009-03

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