20 Chapter 2 Table 2.3 displays the average foreign-born population in 24 European countries between 1990 and 20158. To start, there is considerable variation. As expected, countries that are typically considered countries of immigration such as Sweden, Germany, and Austria have high foreign-born populations. Luxembourg and Switzerland are exceptional, with high numbers of EU workers in particular. Countries traditionally considered countries of emigration, such as Poland, have on average smaller foreign-born populations. Estonia’s high foreign-born population is somewhat of an outlier. It is high because of the large number of recognised non-citizens – they are mainly former Soviet-Union citizens who are permanent residents, but have not acquired any other citizenship (Eurostat, 2017b). Table 2.3: Foreign-born as a percentage of the total population Country Mean Country Mean Country Mean Luxembourg 36 France 11 Norway 9 Switzerland 24 Slovenia 11 Portugal 7 Estonia 17 Spain 10 Czech Republic 6 Austria 14 Greece 10 Denmark 6 Ireland 13 Netherlands 10 Finland 4 Belgium 12 Iceland 9 Slovakia 4 Germany 12 Italy 9 Hungary 3 Sweden 12 United Kingdom 9 Poland 2 Average 11 2.3.3 Control Variables In this section, the control variables are discussed. They cover population demographics, domestic economic conditions, political institutions, economic globalisation, and deindustrialisation. The variables are all drawn from the previous, relevant empirical literature (Gaston & Rajaguru, 2013; Lipsmeyer & Zhu, 2011; Soroka et al., 2006; 2016). Population Demographics. Certain population demographics are controlled for by including the population under 15 and the population over 64 in the model specification (OECD, 2017b). It is reasonable to assume that spending increases as a larger proportion of the population becomes dependent on working age tax payers (Soroka et al., 2006). 8 Over time, most Western European countries have seen a steady increase in their foreign-born populations. For a graphical representation of the changes over time for social spending, the generosity index, and foreign-born see Appendix A.
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