Recent crises have brought asylum-migration to the forefront of political debate in Europe. There has been significant discourse in academic and policymaking spheres concerning migratory pull...Show moreRecent crises have brought asylum-migration to the forefront of political debate in Europe. There has been significant discourse in academic and policymaking spheres concerning migratory pull factors; in particular whether prospective socio-economic entitlements in destination countries are determinants of asylum applicants’ destination choice. Employment rights feature prominently in these discourses, yet few studies directly examine the relationship between labour market access and asylum inflows. This paper exploits Ireland’s transposition of the Recast Reception Conditions Directive in 2018, which ended a comprehensive ban on asylum applicants’ access to the labour market, in order to study the effects of labour market access on the magnitude and demographic composition of asylum applications. Using difference in difference and regression discontinuity methodologies, this paper finds that the labour market access reform caused an increase in the number of asylum applications and in the proportion of working-age applicants in Ireland. These findings contribute to a small body of quasi-experimental literature on the determinants of asylum inflows to destination countries.Show less
An income rule determines household eligibility for the energy allowance at a maximum of 120% of the minimum wage. This thesis examines the effect of the energy allowance on the mental and physical...Show moreAn income rule determines household eligibility for the energy allowance at a maximum of 120% of the minimum wage. This thesis examines the effect of the energy allowance on the mental and physical health of eligible Dutch cohabiting households below and above the AOW pension age. It does so by utilizing a sharp regression discontinuity design to compare the mental and physical health statuses of eligible and non-eligible households. This thesis does find evidence for significant changes on the mental and physical health of Dutch cohabiting households below the AOW pension age. However, the findings reveal a negative association between the energy allowance on depression levels of Dutch cohabiting households above the AOW pension age. This thesis advises the Dutch government to reconsider the income threshold used for the energy allowance and encourages future research to investigate the health effects of the energy allowance more profoundly.Show less
