Our researcher Javier Vázquez-Grenno has been awarded one of the research grants from the Social Observatory of the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation

Dr Javier Vázquez-Grenno, researcher at UB School of Economics and Barcelona Institute of Economics (IEB), and professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Barcelona, has been awarded one of the research grants offered by the Social Observatory of the “la Caixa” Foundation through its Social Research call for proposals.

Professor Vázquez-Grenno’s project is one of 19 new social research studies to which the “la Caixa” Foundation will allocate 2 million euros. These studies are scientific projects that stand out for their excellence, innovative nature, and social focus. A total of 547 proposals were submitted this year in 2025.

The project, led by Vázquez-Grenno and involving IEB researchers Anastasia Terskaya and Cristina Aranzana, is titled “Revisiting the welfare magnet hypothesis: healthcare access for irregular immigrants” and aims to analyse whether the 2012 reform, which limited access to the healthcare system for undocumented immigrants, affected immigration flows, as well as the perceptions of the local population regarding the matter.

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