The comparative analysis of policies in 56 countries: emerging dimensions of and approaches to integration

Migrant integration and related policies have been object of a large amount of research. Started with the famous three-fold typology of the ‘90s (Brubaker, 1992), the debate has developed over the last three decades around the possibility to identify models vis-à-vis and beyond trends of convergence (Joppke 2007, Finotelli and Michalowski 2012). Despite advancements and refinements, the debate has remained mainly confined, empirically and theoretically, to the Western world (Ponzo, 2019; Schinkel, 2018). This article adopts a global perspective to identify the main policy approaches to migrant integration. We analyse the integration policy frameworks of Western and non-western countries. We employ latest MIPEX data (Migrant Integration Policy Index, Solano & Huddleston, 2020) on integration policies in 8 policy areas of integration (e.g., labour market, education, health, etc.), covering 56 countries over 6 continents in the period 2014-2019 By means of principal component analysis, we first identify the underlying dimensions of integration policy (i.e., basic rights; equal opportunities; long-term settlement). Then, based on these dimensions, and how inclusive countries’ policies are on each of them, we identify four approaches to migrant integration by means of cluster analysis: comprehensive integration (e.g. English-speaking traditional destination countries and Scandinavian countries); temporary integration (e.g., European traditional destination countries); subordinate integration (Latin American countries and Eastern European countries and South Africa); settlement without integration (new non-European destination countries, e.g. China, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, UAE).