Schmid Comparative Migration Studies (2020) 8:25 These four observations corroborate the theory proposed in this article. However, this theory needs to be both more rigorously tested and developed further. Indeed, the analytical framework has many more empirical implications, most of which will manifest only in qualitative data of specific cases. Besides looking for traces of the theorized structural logics and their interactions in case studies, the framework also must be subjected to tests using further statistical techniques – namely panel regressions of IRO on CRI, and vice-versa – to ascertain whether there is a correlation. In addition, this structuralist framework has to be complemented by an account of how politics unfolds within, employs, manipulates, and shapes the underlying logics.4 By arguing and illustrating empirically that these structural logics underpinning national boundary regimes create an architecture that is not set in stone but has evolved over time, in this article I have provided both a theoretical and empirical yardstick to address these questions. Supplementary information Supplementary information accompanies this paper at https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-020-00182-5 . Additional file 1. Acknowledgements There are many who deserve my gratitude for helping me craft and improve this article. Here I will mention only two key people. My supervisor Rainer Bauböck and my co-supervisor Maarten Vink have masterfully guided me in transforming the first timid version of this paper into a self-confident article. Their professional dedication, tireless support, and generous encouragement have left me truly amazed and deeply thankful. All remaining errors are mine. Author’s contributions The author(s) read and approved the final manuscript. Author’s information Samuel D. Schmid is a doctoral researcher at the European University Institute (IT) and a doctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity (DE). Funding This research has been supported by three institutions. The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation of the Swiss Confederation has granted a scholarship for doctoral research at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Göttingen, Germany, has provided funding as well as various institutional resources. The funding bodies had no role in the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing this article. Availability of data and materials The datasets and the replication code for the stastitical analyses will be posted upon publication online at https://doi. org/10.7910/DVN/OAY6P7 Competing interests The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Received: 16 October 2019 Accepted: 6 May 2020 References Bauböck, R., et al. (2006). Acquisition and loss of nationality. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. Bauböck, R., et al. (2013). Access to citizenship and its impact on immigrant integration. Florence: European University Institute. Bearce, D., & Hart, A. (2018). Labour migration numbers and rights. In International Interactions online first. 15(1), 28-53. Beine, M., et al. (2016). Comparing immigration policies. International Migration Review, 50(4), 827–863. Bjerre, L. Helbling, M., Römer, F., & Zobel, M. (2016). The immigration policies in comparison (IMPIC) dataset. WZB Discussion Paper, SP VI 2016–201. Blatter, J., Schmid, S.D., Blättler, A.C. (2017). Democratic deficits in Europe. Journal of Common Market Studies, 55(3), 449–467. 4 For a unique example of such a theory and supporting empirical analysis showing a strong positive correlation of immigration openness and immigrant rights in labor migration policies see Bearce and Hart (2018). Page 19 of 20