EU453      Half Unit
The Political Economy of Welfare States and Migration in Europe

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

The aim of the course is to apply concepts of economics and political economy to social policies in European welfare states and migration. The lectures establish the theoretical context, summarise the findings of quantitative case studies and discuss European experiences in the context of broader international experience. The seminars will further develop political-economic concepts, such as market and government failure, and apply them to qualitative case studies of welfare state arrangements in member states, considering in particular the role of social policy legislation and coordination at the EU level. We rely on the main models used to explain the migration decision and explore the main economic effects of migration and its welfare state nexus. The course will provide students with the conceptual and empirical background to enable them to answer questions such as: What does economic theory and political economy tell us about the design of welfare states? How do social policies in European welfare states reconcile equity and efficiency? What drives or stalls reform dynamics in member states? Is the EU gradually developing into a social union, through international mobility and the portability of social entitlements? What does a globally coordinated governance of migration entail?

15 hours of seminars and 10 hours of lectures in the Winter Term.
1.5 hours of seminars in the Spring Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.

In addition to standard lectures and seminars, there will be a number of formative and student-led activities including workshops with practioners or a simulation of the G-20 negotiations. A review session will be held at the start of the Spring Term to prepare for the e-exam.

Presentation

Essay (1200 words)

• Barr, N. (2020) The Economics of the Welfare State, 6th ed., Oxford: Oxford UP;
• Anderson, Karen (2015) Social policy in the European Union. Palgrave, 2015.
• Alesina et al (2019) “Immigration and Preferences for Redistribution in Europe”, IZA Discussion paper
• Borjas G. (2014) “Immigration Economics”, Harvard University Press
• Dustmann, C. (2003) “Return Migration, Wage Differentials, and the Optimal Migration Duration”, European Economic Review, Vol. 47, pp. 353-367.
• Dustmann, C., Glitz A. & Frattini T. (2008) "The labour market impact of immigration." Oxford Review of Economic Policy 24.3: 477-494.
• Dustmann, C., & Frattini, T. (2014). “The fiscal effects of immigration to the UK”. The economic journal, 124(580), F593-F643.
• Facchini, Giovanni. and Anna M. Mayda (2009), ‘Does the welfare state affect individual attitudes towards immigrants: Evidence across countries’, Review of Economics and Statistics, 91, 291-314.
• Kanbur, R. and H. Rappoport (2005), “Migration selectivity and the evolution of spatial inequality”, Journal of Economic Geography.
• Roy, A. D. (1951) "Some Thoughts on the Distribution of Earnings," Oxford Economic Papers (New Series), 3, 135-146.

Exam (100%), duration: 120 Minutes in the Spring exam period

The summative assessment will take the form of an e-exam in the Spring Term. E-exams are assessments run under invigilated exam conditions on campus. Students will complete the assessment using software downloaded to their personal laptops.