Social Harmony at the Boundaries of the Welfare State: Immigrants and Social Transfers

The social contract of the welfare state can be strained by the arrival of immigrants who receive welfare payments financed by citizens? taxes. We show, however, that the presence of unemployed immigrants receiving welfare payments is consistent with social harmony. The social harmony, which is a consequence of a view of unemployment as a labor-market discipline, contrasts with the social conflict predicted by Karl Marx when he proposed his earlier version of the same explanation for unemployment. We demonstrate that a socially harmonious policy is always feasible. Outcomes without social harmony can therefore always be suitably amended.

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Year of publication:	2000
Authors:	Epstein, Gil S. ; Hillman, Arye L.
Publisher:	Bonn : Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
Subject:	Sozialtransfer \| Einwanderung \| Sozialstaat \| Verfassungsökonomik \| Theorie \| Welfare state \| social harmony \| immigrants

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Series:	IZA Discussion paper series ; 168
Type of publication:	Book / Working Paper
Type of publication (narrower categories):	Working Paper
Language:	English
Other identifiers:	835276295 [GVK] hdl:10419/21011 [Handle]
Classification:	I38 - Government Policy; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs ; F22 - International Migration ; P16 - Political Economy
Source:	EconStor