Erez Cohen,

Ariel University Israel,

Ariel, Israel,

erez@ariel.ac.il

EFFECT OF WELFARE AND EMPLOYMENT POLICIES

ON THE CORRELATION BETWEEN MIGRATION AND UNEMPLOYMENT

Abstract. The subject of immigration has been on the public and political agenda of most established countries for many years and has been the focus of much research. In light of increasing immigration to Europe in recent years, this study explores the association between immigration and local unemployment, by examining three prominent immigration destinations: Greece, Germany, and the United States. The research findings indicate that all three countries show a correlation between the two indices, with the different welfare and employment policies implemented by each generating differences in the features of this correlation. In Greece, where the welfare and employment policy implemented encourages idleness, a positive correlation was found between the indices. In Germany, which implements a conservative policy that encourages employment, a negative correlation was found between the two indices. In contrast, the United States implements a liberal immigration policy that produces an ambivalent association between the indices

Received: July, 2016

1st Revision: October, 2016

Accepted: December, 2016

DOI: 10.14254/2071- 789X.2017/10-1/18

JEL Classification: H10, I38, J08

Keywords: public policy, political economy, immigration, welfare policy, employment