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Catalyst or crown: does naturalization promote the long-term social integration of immigrants?

Hainmueller, Jens, Hangartner, Dominik and Pietrantuono, Giuseppe (2017) Catalyst or crown: does naturalization promote the long-term social integration of immigrants? American Political Science Review, 111 (2). 256 - 276. ISSN 0003-0554

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Identification Number: 10.1017/S0003055416000745

Abstract

We study the impact of naturalization on the long-term social integration of immigrants into the host country society. Despite ongoing debates about citizenship policy, we lack reliable evidence that isolates the causal effect of naturalization from the non-random selection into naturalization. We exploit the quasi-random assignment of citizenship in Swiss municipalities that used referendums to decide on naturalization applications of immigrants. Comparing otherwise similar immigrants who narrowly won or narrowly lost their naturalization referendums, we find that receiving Swiss citizenship strongly improved long-term social integration. We also find that the integration returns to naturalization are much larger for more marginalized immigrant groups and somewhat larger when naturalization occurs earlier, rather than later in the residency period. Overall, our findings support the policy paradigm arguing that naturalization is a catalyst for improving the social integration of immigrants rather than merely the crown on the completed integration process.

Item Type: Article
Official URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-p...
Additional Information: © 2017 American Political Science Association
Divisions: Government
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration
Date Deposited: 20 Sep 2016 11:04
Last Modified: 15 Apr 2024 06:21
Projects: 100017_143534
Funders: Swiss National Science Foundation
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/67792

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