This study investigates the multifaceted factors influencing immigrants’ naturalization intentions, with a primary focus on legal requirements and the implementation of naturalization laws. It distinguishes between different immigrant groups, such as refugees, European Union (EU) citizens, and non-EU citizens. Employing a vignette experiment among immigrants in a large-scale representative data in Germany, the research empirically analyzes the effects of liberalizing legal requirements and the effects of more inclusive naturalization procedure on intentions to acquire German citizenship. This comparison, both for current versus liberalized requirements and less versus more inclusive naturalization procedures, offers a realistic scenario of how liberalization and inclusiveness impact naturalization intentions.
IAB-Discussion Paper 4/2024: The causal effect of liberalizing legal requirements
on naturalization intentions