There is a large research literature on the impacts of immigration on the labour markets and welfare states of high-income countries. While much of this research has focused on single countries, MPC research explores how these effects vary across countries with different socio-economic institutions (e.g. different welfare states and labour market regulations). We also aim to analyse potential effects in the opposite direction, i.e. how national labour market and welfare institutions shape the characteristics, effects, and politics of migration and mobility. This question is highly relevant to national and supra-national policy debates, yet it remains relatively under-explored in existing research. What are the relationships between national welfare states and policies toward labour migrants and asylum seekers? What are the effects of cross-country variations in national institutions for the transnational governance of migration (e.g. for common EU policies on free movement and migration, or for the global governance of migration)?
Selected recent publications and working papers (2018/19):
- Anderson, B., Poeschel, F. and M. Ruhs (2021) “Rethinking labour migration: Covid-19, essential work, and systemic resilience”,
Comparative Migration Studies, forthcoming (earlier Working Paper here) - Osterman, M, Palme, J. and M. Ruhs (2019) “National institutions and the fiscal effects of EU migrants”, REMINDER working paper, www.reminder-project.eu
- Ruhs, M. and J. Palme (2018) “Institutional contexts of political conflicts around free movement in the European Union: A theoretical analysis”, Journal of European Public Policy 25(10): 1481-1500.
- Ruhs, M. (2018) “Labor immigration policies in high-income countries: Variations across political regimes and varieties of capitalism”, Journal of Legal Studies 47 (S1): S89-S127