Abstract
Using unique longitudinal microdata linking administrative records from Sweden and Finland, we study how immigrant naturalization relates to cultural proximity. We analyze how Swedish citizenship acquisition depends on mother tongue by comparing Swedish-speaking and Finnish-speaking immigrants from Finland, who arrived in Sweden in 1988–2004, and contrast with other Nordic-born immigrants. We treat return migration and naturalization as two elements in the decision process of immigrants, being the first to estimate competing risks models for naturalization and return migration for the same study group of persons. The setting of free mobility in the Nordic countries, together with economic, political and social similarities, implies that the direct benefits of naturalization are modest and the same for all Nordic-born immigrants in Sweden. Thus, we assess naturalization in an analytical framework where many confounding factors are circumvented and in which the study groups have grown up in the similar institutional setting. Swedish-speaking Finns are found to have an approximately 30 percent higher standardized risk of naturalization than Finnish-speaking Finns, and a 2.5 times higher risk as compared to people from the other Nordic countries. We argue that these differentials reflect the degree to which the groups broadly differ in affinity with Sweden.
Highlights
Citizenship acquisition, can in many respects be seen as a doorway to nationality-based privilege, and it is a subject of growing importance worldwide
Since naturalization is a reflection of identity, cultural proximity between the home country and the host country is a key factor behind the decision to naturalize
The division of Swedish-speaking and Finnishspeaking Finns is certainly not an automatic cause of cultural proximity to Sweden, it is in this context a reasonably good proxy, and one that goes beyond the standard approach of previous studies concerned with the antecedents of naturalization
Summary
Citizenship acquisition, can in many respects be seen as a doorway to nationality-based privilege, and it is a subject of growing importance worldwide. Since Swedish-speaking Finns identify themselves as ethno-linguistically Swedish, unlike Danes and Norwegians, any differences in naturalization rates can be claimed to be attributed to the latter group’s heightened cultural affinity with Sweden This taxonomy allows us to speak more directly about the role of cultural proximity on naturalization in an analytical framework where many confounding factors are circumvented, and in which the groups have grown up in the same, or very similar, institutional setting. We obtain an unusually informative measure for how cultural proximity affects naturalization, and can make inference about the relation between return migration and naturalization within a competing risks framework Based on this setting, and what will be described we assume that, because of a closer perceived relationship with Sweden, Swedish-speaking Finns will have a higher rate of citizenship acquisition than Finnish-speaking Finns. Unless selective return migration plays a strong role, Finnish-speaking Finns should naturalize at the lowest rate
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
