Migration and Welfare State: Why is America Different from Europe?
Working Paper 20450
DOI 10.3386/w20450
Issue Date
Over the years, there emerged two key policy differences between Europe and America, both welfare and migration-states. The former has more generous welfare state and more liberal migration policies than the latter. In this paper we attempt to provide a political-economy explanation for these key differences, based on the degree of coordination among member states of the economic union, and the different levels of population aging.