The welfare state has long been under debate. Besides various theoretical discussions, it has often been empirically investigated regarding its effects on inequality and economic growth. With the advent of the scientific field of happiness research, scholars began to discuss the welfare state's...

This chapter reviews and discusses major theories and empirical studies about the welfare magnet hypothesis, i.e. whether immigrants are more likely to move to countries with generous welfare systems. Although economic theory predicts that welfare generosity affects the number, composition and...

This paper investigates the link between globalization, operationalized as openness to trade, and the welfare state, defined as social spending, in a panel of 21 countries from 1920 to 2000. It argues for a clear definition of globalization with clearly defined and testable data, and that social...