Social Assistance and Refugee Crime

Daniel Auer, Michaela Slotwinski, Achim Ahrens, Dominik Hangartner, Selina Kurer, Stefanie Kurt and Alois Stutzer

No 11051, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Despite intense policy debates, the relationship between social welfare and refugee crime remains understudied. Taking steps to address this gap, our study focuses on Switzerland, where mobility restrictions on exogenously assigned refugees coincide with cantons’ autonomy in setting social assistance rates. Linking time-varying cantonal benefit rates between 2009 and 2016 to individual-level administrative data, we find that higher social assistance reduces criminal charges, especially for petty crimes and drug offenses. In light of limited (short-run) repercussions for refugees’ labor market participation, our results suggest social assistance can be a cost-effective measure to improve refugee welfare and enhance public safety.

Keywords: immigration; crime; welfare benefits; refugees; migration policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D02 H53 J18 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-law, nep-mig and nep-ure
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11051

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