From rags to riches? Immigration and poverty in Spain

Muñoz de Bustillo, Rafael and Antón, José-Ignacio (2009): From rags to riches? Immigration and poverty in Spain.

Abstract

This paper explores for the first time the relationship between immigration and poverty in Spain. Using the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions 2006, we find that both moderate and severe poverty are more acute among migrants than among nationals and social transfers play no substantial role in reducing poverty in the former case. In addition, using an econometric non-linear decomposition, we show the gap in deprivation incidence is fully explained by the different effects of household characteristics on poverty reduction for immigrants and locals.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Immigration; Poverty; Spain; Non-linear decomposition
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business > F22 - International Migration; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O15 - Human Resources ; Human Development ; Income Distribution ; Migration; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I3 - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty > I32 - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

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