Overrepresentation of non-natives among benefit recipients is a standard finding in the literature on SA benefit receipt dynamics and has motivated a series of studies examining the reasons of this so-called ‘immigrant-native gap’ in benefit receipt. Evidence from Sweden suggests that differences in observable characteristics only account for a small part of the differences in the frequency of benefit receipt between migrants and natives, but that state dependence in benefit receipt, i.e. a possible ‘scarring effect’ of past benefit receipt, may be higher for migrants (Hansen & Lofstrom, 2003, 2008, see discussion in Section 4). By contrast, Riphahn & Wunder (2012) find that for Germany the gap disappears once socioeconomic characteristics are accounted for. Differences in findings across countries are however to be expected given large heterogeneity in the immigrant populations and cross-country differences in the extent to which different migrant groups have access to standard social safety nets.