Erez Cohen ISSN 2071-789X INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY Economics & Sociology, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2017 246 Erez Cohen, Ariel University Israel, Ariel, Israel, E-mail: erez@ariel.ac.il EFFECT OF WELFARE AND EMPLOYMENT POLICIES ON THE CORRELATION BETWEEN MIGRATION AND UNEMPLOYMENT ABSTRACT. The subject of immigration has been on the public and political agenda of most established countries for many years and has been the focus of much research. In light of increasing immigration to Europe in recent years, this study explores the association between immigration and local unemployment, by examining three prominent immigration destinations: Greece, Germany, and the United States. The research findings indicate that all three countries show a correlation between the two indices, with the different welfare and employment policies implemented by each generating differences in the features of this correlation. In Greece, where the welfare and employment policy implemented encourages idleness, a positive correlation was found between the indices. In Germany, which implements a conservative policy that encourages employment, a negative correlation was found between the two indices. In contrast, the United States implements a liberal immigration policy that produces an ambivalent association between the indices. Received: July, 2016 1st Revision: October, 2016 Accepted: December, 2016 DOI: 10.14254/2071- 789X.2017/10-1/18 JEL Classification: H10, I38, J08 Keywords: public policy, political economy, immigration, welfare policy, employment. Introduction Immigration and its various aspects 1 have been on the public and political agenda in most established countries for many years. Accelerated immigration is a result, among other things, of increased mobility stemming from cheaper and easier means of transportation, the widening wealth gap between industrialized and other countries that is leading many people to leave their country of origin in the hope of arriving at a country that seems to afford a better life, and local and regional conflicts 2 creating tens of thousands of homeless and refugees. Incoming immigration has a considerable impact on a country's culture, demographics, politics, and religion, as well as on the local economy and labor market, as evident in many countries that have experienced such waves throughout history (Goldin et al., 2012; Lewis & Peri, 2014). 1 Migrants, foreign workers, illegal residents, and refugees. 2 Such as the wars in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, various African countries, and in recent years other countries in the Middle East, particularly Syria. Cohen, E. (2017), Effect of Welfare and Employment Policies on the Correlation between Migration and Unemployment, Economics and Sociology, Vol. 10, No 1, pp. 246-264. DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2017/10-1/18