6 Chapter 1 native measures of generosity, such as the generosity index from Scruggs et al. (2014) in Chapter 2 and replacement rates in Chapter 4, providing a more holistic approach to measuring welfare state generosity. Moreover, my research disentangles welfare state expenditures in Chapter 4 to provide a more detailed picture of how specific social policies may be influenced by immigration. In addition, previous research typically relies on broad indicators for immigration, in particular ‘foreign-born population as a percentage of the total population’, which identifies individuals born elsewhere than their current country of residence as migrants. While this approach provides a useful overview, it fails to capture the nuances of different types of mobility, such as the distinct impacts of labour migrants, refugees, or EU mobile citizens. These distinctions can be crucial, as different migrant groups may have varying degrees of access to welfare services, contribute differently to national economies, and be perceived (negatively or positively) in different ways. My thesis addresses this gap by developing more precise indicators for intra-EU labour mobility (EU citizens who reside in another EU country other than the one of their country of birth) in Chapter 3 and then testing this specific type of mobility, thus offering a more precise analysis of how different migrant populations interact with the welfare state in Chapters 4 and 5. In terms of methodology, this thesis uses a number of quantitative techniques to answer its research question. I follow the broader literature and use typical methods for working with cross-sectional, time-series analysis such as panel corrected standard errors and multilevel models for survey data and public opinion, but I also provide robustness checks utilising lesser-used methods in the political economy literature on migration, such as an instrumental variable approach and error correction models. By addressing these gaps, this dissertation complements and advances the current literature, thereby offering a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the relationship between migration and welfare states in Europe. Moreover, it embraces the macro- and micro-level mechanisms that may be transforming the welfare state as a result of changing levels of immigration. Having addressed the gap in the literature, the rest of this introduction now focuses on providing a more detailed description of each chapter. 1.2 A Reader’s Guide This thesis is structured around a collection of four independent, yet interconnected articles that intend to provide insight into the way mobility and immigration influence the structural and conceptual boundaries of the welfare state. They aim to contribute to the comparative political economy
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