Are political and economic integration intertwined?

Economic incentives play a key role in the decision torun for office, but little is known on how they shapeimmigrants’ self-selection into candidacy. We study thisquestion using a two-period Roy model, and show thatif returns to labour market experience differ betweenmigrants and natives, then this will affect the relative like-lihood to run for office for the two groups. We assessthis prediction empirically using administrative data fromNorway, a country with a very liberal regime for partici-pation in local elections. Our results strongly support ourtheoretical model and indicate that immigrants’ politicaland economic integration are closely intertwined.