Integration policies in Spain and Sweden: Do they matter for migrants' economic integration and socio-cultural participation?

The aim of this study is to explore the impact of integration policies, implemented in Spain and Sweden, on first-generation migrants' economic integration and socio-cultural participation. Different policies targeting migrants' economic and political integration, social inclusion, and cultural participation have been adopted by countries in Europe and across the globe for years. However, little is known about their impact on migrant's economic and socio-cultural integration. We explore the Strategic Plan on Citizenship and Integration (PECI) I in 2007 to 2010 and PECI II in 2011 to 2014 implemented in Spain. For Sweden, we examine the Integration Plans of 2008 and 2014. We apply a difference-in-differences (DiD) framework. The findings suggest that the integration policies in Spain had a positive effect in some domains of the socio-cultural and economic integration for EU migrants, while a negative impact is found for the non-EU immigrants. On the other hand, the results for the integration in Sweden show a weak effect. Integration policies should identify the barriers of migrants' social inclusion and recognize their needs for their successful economic and socio-cultural integration in the host societies.TUBITAKTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [119C017]; Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK)The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This paper has been produced benefiting from the Marie SklodowskaCurie Action 2236 Co-Funded Brain Circulation Scheme2 (CoCirculation2) of TUBITAK (Project No: 119C017), which has been funded under the FP7-PEOPLE-2011-COFUND call of the 7th Framework Programme. The authors are grateful for the financial support received. However, the entire responsibility of the paper belongs to the owners of the paper. The financial support received from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) does not mean that the context of the paper is approved in a scientific sense by TUBITAK