Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/187508 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research No. 994
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
This paper studies the impact of immigration on public policy setting. We exploit the sudden arrival of eight million forced migrants in West Germany after WWII. These migrants were poorer than the local population but had full voting rights and were eligible for social welfare. We show that cities responded to this shock with selective tax raises and shifts in spending. Voting data suggests that these changes were partly driven by the immigrants' political influence. We further document a strong persistence of the effect. The initial migration shock changed the preferences for redistribution of the following generations.
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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