Immigration and Social Benefits in a Mediterranean Welfare State: The Case of Spain

Muñoz de Bustillo, Rafael and Antón, José-Ignacio (2009): Immigration and Social Benefits in a Mediterranean Welfare State: The Case of Spain.

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore the impact of immigration on the Spanish Welfare State nowadays. Using two different household surveys, both the reception of state cash transfers and the use of public health care insurance by nationals and immigrants are analysed. Controlling by observable socio-demographic characteristics, we find that immigrants receive fewer cash transfers than locals and do not exhibit a statistically significant higher use of health care services than nationals. The nature of the Spanish Welfare State compared to its European correlates and the age composition of the immigrant population, concentrated in active age, can help to explain these findings.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Immigration; Welfare State; Spain; cash transfers; health care
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business > F22 - International Migration; H - Public Economics > H5 - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies > H53 - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs

References

Abásolo, I. 2003. “Equidad horizontal en la distribución del gasto público en sanidad por grupos socioeconómicos en Canarias. Un estudio comparado con el conjunto español,” Hacienda Pública Española 137: 3-28.

Alesina, A. and E. Glaeser. 2004. Fighting Poverty in the US and Europe: A World of Difference. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Álvarez, B. 2001. “La demanda atendida de consultas médicas y servicios urgentes en España,” Investigaciones Económicas 25: 93-138.

Anastassova, L. and T. Paligorova. 2006. “What is Behind the Native-Immigrant Social Income Gap?,” Luxembourg Income Study Working Paper 432.

Banting, K. and W. Kimlicka. 2006. Multiculturalism and the Welfare State: Recognition and Redistribution in Contemporary Democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bengtsson, T. and K. Scott. 2006. “Immigrant consumption of sickness benefits in Sweden, 1982-1991,” Journal of Socio Economics 35: 440-457.

Bird, E. J., H. Kayser, J.R. Frick and G.G. Wagner 1999 “The Immigrant Welfare Effect: Take-Up or Eligibility?,” IZA Discussion Paper 66.

Blake, D. and L. Mayhew. 2006. “On the Sustainability of the UK State Pension System in the Light of Population Ageing and Declining Fertility,” Economic Journal 116: 286-305.

Borjas, G.J. 1995. “The Economic Benefits from Immigration,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 9: 3-22.

Borjas, G.J. and S.J. Trejo. 1991 “Immigrant participation in the Welfare system,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 44: 195-211.

Bover, O. and P. Velilla. 1999. Migration in Spain: Historical Background and Current Trends. IZA Discussion Paper 88.

Brücker, H., G.S. Epstein, B. McCormick, B., G. Saint-Paul, A. Venturini and K.F. Zimmermann. 2002. “Welfare State Provision,” in T. Boeri, G. H. Hanson and B. McCormick (eds.), Immigration Policy and the Welfare System. London: Oxford University Press, pp. 66-90.

Collado, M.D., I. Iturbe-Ormaetxe and G. Valera. 2004. “Quantifying the Impact of Immigration on the Spanish Welfare State,” International Tax and Public Finance 11: 335-353.

Cots, F. and X. Castells. 2004. “Diferencias del coste hospitalario del parto entre población nacional e inmigrante”. Paper presented at the XXIV Meeting on Health Economics, El Escorial, Spain, May.

Dolado, J.J. and C. Fernández-Yusta. 2001. “Los nuevos fenómenos migratorios: retos y políticas”. Paper presented at the Fourth Meeting of the Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional, Universidad Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain, October.

Durán, A., J.L. Lara and M. van Waveren. 2006. Spain: Health System Review. Copenhagen: World Health Organization.

Ekberg, J. 1999. “Immigration and the Public sector: Income effects for the native population in Sweden,” Journal of Population Economics 12: 411-430.

Eurobarometer. 2007. “Public Opinion in the European Union,” [Internet] Spring 2006, 65. Available from: <http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/eb/eb65/eb65_en.pdf> [Accessed 26 February 2009]

Eurostat. 2001. “Why do people migrate,” Statistics in focus 1/2001.

Eurostat. 2006. “Non-national populations in the EU Member States,” Statistics in focus 8/2006.

García Pérez, J. I., V. Osuna and G. Vera. 2007. “La inmigración y sus efecto en las finanzas públicas andaluzas,” in J.J. Dolado and P. Vázquez (eds.), Ensayos sobre los efectos económicos de la integración en España. Madrid: FEDEA, pp. 98-126.

García, P., S. González and S. Saez. 2007. “Diferencias en estado de salud y en los condicionantes de utilización de los servicios sanitarios entre la población de origen extranjero,” in G. López i Casanovas (dir.), Inmigración y transformación económica en Cataluña (vol. I). Aspectos socioeconómicos del fenómeno migratorio: las cuestiones relevantes. Bilbao: Fundación BBVA, pp. 257-304.

Gilens, M. 1999. Why Americans Hate Welfare: Race, Media and the Politics of Antipoverty Policy. Chicago: Chicago University Press.

Hansen, J. and M. Lofstrom. 2003.” Immigrant Assimilation and Welfare Participation: Do Immigrants Assimilate Into or Out-of Welfare?,” Journal of Human Resources 38: 74-98.

Hatton, T.J. and J.G. Williamson. 2005. Global Migration and the World Economy. Two Centuries of Policy and Performance. Boston: MIT Press.

Krieger, T. 2005. Public Pensions and Immigration. A Public Choice Approach, Northampton, M.A.: Edward Elgar.

López Vélez, R. 2006. La salud del inmigrante con especial referencia a la población pediátrica. Madrid: GlaxoSmithKline,.

Nielsen, N. 2004. “Social Transfers to Immigrants in Germany and Denmark,” in . T. Trances and K.F. Zimmermann (eds.), Migrants, Work and the welfare State. Odense: University Press of Southern Denmark, pp. 245-284.

Oporto del Olmo, A. 1992 Emigración y ahorro en España 1959-1986. Madrid: Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad Social.

Salazar, A., E. Navarro-Calderón et al. 2003. “Diagnósticos al alta hospitalaria de las personas inmigrantes en la ciudad de Valencia 2001-2002,” Revista de Salud Pública 77: 713-723.

Straubhaar, T. and R. Weber. 1994. “On the Economics of Immigration: Some Empirical Evidence for Switzerland,” International Review of Applied Economics 8: 107-129.

Ulrich, R. 1994. “The Impact of Foreigners on the Public Purse,” in S. Spencer (ed.), Immigration as an Economic Asset: The German Experience. Staffordshire: Trentham Books, pp. 65-91.

United Nations Population Division. .2005. “Trends in Total Migrant Stock: The 2005 Revision,” [Internet] Department of Economic and Social Affairs, The United Nations. Available from: <http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/migration/> [Accessed 26 February 2009].

Urbanos, R.M. 2000. “La prestación de los servicios sanitarios públicos en España: cálculo y análisis de la equidad horizontal interpersonal para el período 1987-1995,” Hacienda Pública Española 153: 139-160.

Wadensjö, E. and C. Gerdes. 2004. “Immigrants and the public sector in Denmark and Germany,” in T. Trances and K.F. Zimmermann (eds.), Migrants, Work and the welfare State. Odense: University Press of Southern Denmark, pp. 319-357.

Winkelmann, R. .2002. “Work and health in Switzerland: Immigrants and Natives, Working Paper 203,” [Internet] University of Zurich. Available from: <http://www.soi.uzh.ch/research/wp/wp0203.pdf> [Accessed 26 February 2009].