Identity- versus effort-based bureaucratic discrimination among mobile European Union citizens: Evidence from conjoint experiments

Abstract

Discrimination by welfare bureaucrats in host countries poses significant administrative burdens for mobile European Union citizens’ social rights in practice. However, the relative importance of applicants’ identity and perceived effort therein is understudied. Combining discrimination and behavioral theory, we investigate how nationality and perceived effort affect bureaucratic discrimination. A choice-based conjoint survey experiment presents 2403 bureaucrats in Switzerland, Denmark, Ireland, and Spain with fictional information requests from French and Bulgarian citizens. The results of the experiment show that bureaucrats—particularly administrators with antimigration and right-wing attitudes—favor French citizens over Bulgarians. Preferential treatment was strongest for applicants whose language fluency and job-seeking activities indicate integration efforts. Bureaucratic discrimination is much more about what EU citizens do than who they are.