Migration presents challenges to welfare states, leading advanced nations to establish transgovernmental networks. This article explores how domestic factors condition interactions among representatives of these countries within European Union cross-border welfare governance networks.

## Data & Methods

* New survey data from EU-28 member states

* Social network analysis techniques

* Exponential random graph models for testing drivers

The findings reveal that cooperation tends to be homophilous, occurring mainly between nations with similar welfare systems. A key result shows that political cleavages between sending and receiving countries are not reflected in the patterns of interaction itself.

Domestic factors—both institutional similarity (welfare state types) and administrative capacity—are crucial drivers behind these networked governance interactions.