Age at Migration and the Political Integration of Immigrants — Evidence From a Sibling Analysis

We study the effect of age at migration among immigrants in Sweden on political participation as adults. To identify the effect, we use validated individual turnout data over three elections in Sweden (1994, 2010, and 2018), and compare outcomes among siblings who arrive at the same time but at different ages. We document a clear effect on political participation from early arrival: immigrants arriving in early childhood (ages 0–5) are about 5 to 10 percentage points more likely to partake in national elections as adults compared to immigrants arriving later (ages 12–17) during their childhood. We further show that the effect is partially persistent over the life-cycle.