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Educated Preferences: Explaining Attitudes Toward Immigration in Europe

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Author Info
Hainmueller, Jens
Hiscox, Michael J.

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Abstract

Recent studies of individual attitudes toward immigration emphasize concerns about labor-market competition as a potent source of anti-immigrant sentiment, in particular among less-educated or less-skilled citizens who fear being forced to compete for jobs with low-skilled immigrants willing to work for much lower wages. We examine new data on attitudes toward immigration available from the 2003 European Social Survey. In contrast to predictions based on conventional arguments about labor-market competition, which anticipate that individuals will oppose immigration of workers with similar skills to their own but support immigration of workers with different skill levels, we find that people with higher levels of education and occupational skills are more likely to favor immigration regardless of the skill attributes of the immigrants in question. Across Europe, higher education and higher skills mean more support for all types of immigrants. These relationships are almost identical among individuals in the labor force (that is, those competing for jobs) and those not in the labor force. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, then, the connection between the education or skill levels of individuals and views about immigration appears to have very little, if anything, to do with fears about labor-market competition. This finding is consistent with extensive economic research showing that the income and employment effects of immigration in European economies are actually very small. We find that a large component of the link between education and attitudes toward immigrants is driven by differences among individuals in cultural values and beliefs. More educated respondents are significantly less racist and place greater value on cultural diversity than do their counterparts; they are also more likely to believe that immigration generates benefits for the host economy as a whole.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by Cambridge University Press in its journal International Organization.

Volume (Year): 61 (2007)
Issue (Month): 02 (April)
Pages: 399-442
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Handle: RePEc:cup:intorg:v:61:y:2007:i:02:p:399-442_07

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Hartog, Joop & Zorlu, Aslan, 2002. "The Effect of Immigration on Wages in Three European Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 642, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  2. Bauer, Thomas K. & Lofstrom, Magnus & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2000. "Immigration Policy, Assimilation of Immigrants and Natives' Sentiments towards Immigrants: Evidence from 12 OECD-Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 187, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  4. George J. Borjas & Richard B. Freeman & Lawrence F. Katz, 1996. "Searching for the Effect of Immigration on the Labor Market," NBER Working Papers 5454, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Gang, Ira N. & Rivera-Batiz, Francisco L. & Yun, Myeong-Su, 2002. "Economic Strain, Ethnic Concentration and Attitudes Towards Foreigners in the European Union," IZA Discussion Papers 578, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  6. Kenneth F. Scheve & Matthew J. Slaughter, 2001. "Labor Market Competition And Individual Preferences Over Immigration Policy," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(1), pages 133-145, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Borjas, George J., 1999. "The economic analysis of immigration," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 28, pages 1697-1760 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Card, David, 2004. "Is the New Immigration Really So Bad?," IZA Discussion Papers 1119, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  15. Joshua D. Angrist & Adriana D. Kugler, 2001. "Protective or Counter-Productive? Labor Market Institutions and the Effect of Immigration on EU Natives," Economics Working Papers 587, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. [Downloadable!]
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  16. Elise S. Brezis & Paul Krugman, 1993. "Immigration, Investment and Real Wages," NBER Working Papers 4563, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Jones, Ronald W. & Peter Neary, J., 1984. "The positive theory of international trade," Handbook of International Economics, in: R. W. Jones & P. B. Kenen (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 1, pages 1-62 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Bianchi, Milo, 2006. "Immigration Policy and Self-Selecting Migrants," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 627, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 02 Nov 2006. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Michael Fertig & Jan Brenner, 2006. "Identifying the Determinants of Attitudes towards Immigrants - A Structural Cross-Country Analysis," RWI Discussion Papers 0047, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Facchini, Giovanni & Mayda, Anna Maria, 2006. "Individual Attitudes Towards Immigrants: Welfare-State Determinants Across Countries," CEPR Discussion Papers 5702, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Nikolaj Malchow-Møller & Jakob Roland Munch & Sanne Schroll & Jan Rose Skaksen, 2006. "Attitudes Towards Immigration: Does Economic Self-Interest Matter?," IZA Discussion Papers 2283, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  5. Gordon H. Hanson & Kenneth F. Scheve & Matthew Slaughter, 2005. "Public Finance and Individual Preferences over Globalization Strategies," NBER Working Papers 11028, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Jan Brenner, 2007. "Parental Impact on Attitude Formation - A Siblings Study on Worries about Immigration," Ruhr Economic Papers 0022, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen. [Downloadable!]
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