Fiscal Position of Immigrants in Europe: A Quantile Regression Approach

This paper compares the net fiscal position (NFP) of immigrants versus natives using data from theEuropean Survey on Living Conditions (EU-SILC) for the period 2007-2015. By employing a quantileregression approach, we find that European and non-European migrants have a different fiscal positionfrom natives only on the extreme tails of the NFP distribution. Non-EU migrants contribute more thannatives in the top quantile of the NFP, whereas they are more fiscally depend in the bottom quantile. Wealso examine the relationship between our calculated migrants’ fiscal position and the fiscal perception ofEuropean citizens versus migrants as measured in European Social Survey (ESS) data. The negative per-ception in some European countries may be entirely driven by the fiscal position of migrants in the lowestquantile. Our results highlight the critical need to better understand the fiscal contribution of migrants inthe destination countries for a fair and constructive migration policy.