The Political Economy of Immigration in The Netherlands : Population, Land and Welfare

Economists measure the effects of immigration through the yardstick of income. This book offers a broad survey of the conventional approach but, in addition, also considers better measures of welfare or well-being and provides a detailed description and evaluation of policies rules, regulations and implementation. The book presents a long, historical perspective on the development of population density in the Netherlands. It begins with the history of the Netherlands: geological and cultural formation of the land and water and population development. The Netherlands is unique in that much of the land is man-made, in particular, the western part, which is, economically speaking, the most developed area. It is also special for its very high population growth rate that took off during the 19th century. The key argument of the book is that population size is irrelevant for income per capita, that land is a binding constraint in the Netherlands and that negative external effects of increasing population size lead to welfare losses from further population growth, whether by natural growth or by immigration. At present, the battle for scarce land is intense and bitter, with a strong clash between developers who want to build houses, farmers who do not want to give up farming and conservationists who increasingly find support in the courts for insufficiently caring for the natural environment. The book combines a general analysis of population density, both theoretical and empirical, with an in-depth presentation of actual policies in a country with intense pressure on available land. Cover Half Title Series Title Copyright Contents List of figures List of tables Preface 1 Introduction 2 Man, land and water: a brief history of Dutch density 2.1 Two summaries 2.1.1 How the land was won: a summary 2.1.2 How population grew: a summary 2.2 Land and water: a very brief look at a very long history 2.3 A brief history of population 2.4 The demographic contribution of migration 2.5 The upshot: population density 2.6 Overpopulation 2.7 The cost of living in the Delta 2.8 Conclusion 3 Population size, immigration and income per capita 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Static theory 3.2.1 Some basic rules 3.2.2 Immigration and redistribution 3.3 Dynamic theory 3.4 Empirical evidence 3.5 Filling the gaps: effects under disequilibrium 3.6 Immigrants and welfare state transfers 3.7 Land as a factor of production 3.8 Increasing returns: agglomeration effects 3.9 Von Thunen: the distance gradient of land prices 3.10 Conclusions 4 Measuring effects on welfare 4.1 Historical developments 4.2 Measuring welfare: macro 4.3 Measuring welfare: micro 4.3.1 Measuring utility in the metric of money 4.3.2 Subjective well-being: a bird with many feathers 4.4 The cost of high population density quantified? 4.5 Conclusion 5 The political economy of immigration 5.1 Policy questions 5.2 Who were the immigrants? 5.2.1 Before 1940 5.2.2 After 1945 5.2.3 Emigration surplus 5.2.4 Post-colonial aftermath: Dutch-Indians, Moluccans, Surinamese, Antilleans 5.2.5 Mediterranean migrant workers 5.2.6 Family migration 5.2.7 Asylum seekers 5.2.8 Towards a single European labour market 5.2.9 High-skilled labour 5.2.10 Dynamics 5.2.11 Level of education 5.3 Legislation and regulations 5.3.1 Objectives 5.3.2 Structure and coherence of the regulations 5.3.3 Implementation 5.3.4 The labour market test 5.3.5 The means test 5.3.6 Other criteria 5.3.7 From national to EU regulation 5.4 Towards evaluation 5.4.1 Who reigns in the arena? 5.4.2 Overpopulation, emigration, immigration 5.4.3 Permanent or temporary? 5.4.4 Quota? 5.4.5 Enforcement 5.4.6 Transparency and honesty 5.5 Conclusion 6 The upshot: tough policy challenges 6.1 The battle for land 6.2 What policies are conceivable? 6.2.1 Increase land 6.2.2 Reduce population 6.2.3 Reduce space intensity of activities 6.2.4 Adjusting the production structure 6.3 No reason to fear population decline 6.4 A policy stalemate? Epilogue Appendix to Chapter 3 Index "Economists measure the effects of immigration through the yardstick of income. This book offers a broad survey of the conventional approach but in addition, also considers better measures of welfare or well-being, offers a detailed description and evaluation of policies - rules, regulations and implementation. The book offers a long, historical perspective on the development of population density in The Netherlands. It begins with the history of The Netherlands: geological and cultural formation of the land - and water - and population development. The Netherlands is unique in that much of the land is man-made, in particular the western part, which is economically speaking the most developed area. It is also special for its very high population growth rate that took off during the 19th century. The key argument of the book is that population size is irrelevant for income per capita, that land is a binding constraint in The Netherlands and that negative external effects of increasing population size lead to welfare losses from further population growth, whether by natural growth or by immigration. At present, the battle for scarce land is intense and bitter, with a strong clash between developers who want to build houses, farmers who do not want to give up farming and conservationists who increasingly find support in the courts for insufficiently caring for the natural environment. The book combines a general analysis of population density, both theoretical and empirical with an in-depth presentation of actual policies in a country with intense pressure on available land"-- Provided by publisher Economists measure the effects of immigration through the yardstick of income. This book offers a broad survey of the conventional approach but in addition, also considers better measures of welfare or well-being and provides a detailed description and evaluation of policies - rules, regulations and implementation. The book offers a long, historical perspective on the development of population density in the Netherlands. It begins with the history of the Netherlands: geological and cultural formation of the land - and water - and population development. The Netherlands is unique in that much of the land is man-made, in particular the western part, which is, economically speaking, the most developed area. It is also special for its very high population growth rate that took off during the 19th century. The key argument of the book is that population size is irrelevant for income per capita, that land is a binding constraint in the Netherlands and that negative external effects of increasing population size lead to welfare losses from further population growth, whether by natural growth or by immigration. At present, the battle for scarce land is intense and bitter, with a strong clash between developers who want to build houses, farmers who do not want to give up farming and conservationists who increasingly find support in the courts for insufficiently caring for the natural environment. The book combines a general analysis of population density, both theoretical and empirical, with an in-depth presentation of actual policies in a country with intense pressure on available land.