IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/izajdm/v11y2020i1p31n13.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Social Capital in Shaping Europeans’ Immigration Sentiments

Author

Listed:
  • Economidou Claire
  • Karamanis Dimitris
  • Kechrinioti Alexandra
  • Xesfingi Sofia

    (Department of Economics, University of Piraeus, Piraeus185 34, Greece)

Abstract

Migration has manifested itself to historic highs, creating divisive views among politicians, policy makers, and individuals. The present paper studies the Europeans’ attitudes toward immigration, focusing particularly on the role of social capital. Based on 267,282 respondents from 22 countries and over the period 2002–2014, we find that despite the eventful past years, Europeans, on average, are positive toward immigrants with the North European countries to be the least xenophobic. A salient finding of our analysis is that regardless of the impact of other contextual factors, namely, a country’s macroeconomic conditions, ethnic diversity, cultural origin, and individuals’ attributes, social capital associates with positive attitudes toward all immigrants, independent of their background. Furthermore, social capital moderates the negative effects of perceived threat on people’s opinions about immigrants.

Suggested Citation

  • Economidou Claire & Karamanis Dimitris & Kechrinioti Alexandra & Xesfingi Sofia, 2020. "The Role of Social Capital in Shaping Europeans’ Immigration Sentiments," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-31, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:izajdm:v:11:y:2020:i:1:p:31:n:13
    DOI: 10.2478/izajodm-2020-0003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/izajodm-2020-0003
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/izajodm-2020-0003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yvonni Markaki & Simonetta Longhi, 2012. "What Determines Attitudes to Immigration in European Countries? An Analysis at the Regional Level," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1233, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    2. Kreps, David M. & Milgrom, Paul & Roberts, John & Wilson, Robert, 1982. "Rational cooperation in the finitely repeated prisoners' dilemma," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 245-252, August.
    3. J. Goosby Smith & Josie Bell Lindsay, 2014. "Fairness and Trust," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Beyond Inclusion, chapter 0, pages 117-146, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. Stephen Knack & Philip Keefer, 1997. "Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? A Cross-Country Investigation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1251-1288.
    5. Christian Dustmann & Kristine Vasiljeva & Anna Piil Damm, 2019. "Refugee Migration and Electoral Outcomes," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 86(5), pages 2035-2091.
    6. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 1999. "The Quality of Government," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 222-279, April.
    7. Stulz, Rene M. & Williamson, Rohan, 2003. "Culture, openness, and finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 313-349, December.
    8. Bellemare, Charles & Kroger, Sabine, 2007. "On representative social capital," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 183-202, January.
    9. Bruni, Luigino & Sugden, Robert, 2000. "Moral canals: trust and social capital in the work of Hume, Smith and Genovesi," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 21-45, April.
    10. David Card & Christian Dustmann & Ian Preston, 2012. "Immigration, Wages, And Compositional Amenities," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(1), pages 78-119, February.
    11. Ted Brader & Nicholas A. Valentino & Elizabeth Suhay, 2008. "What Triggers Public Opposition to Immigration? Anxiety, Group Cues, and Immigration Threat," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(4), pages 959-978, October.
    12. Guido Tabellini, 2010. "Culture and Institutions: Economic Development in the Regions of Europe," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 8(4), pages 677-716, June.
    13. Francisco Herreros & Henar Criado, 2009. "Social Trust, Social Capital and Perceptions of Immigration," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 57(2), pages 337-355, June.
    14. Giovanni Facchini & Anna Maria Mayda, 2009. "Does the Welfare State Affect Individual Attitudes toward Immigrants? Evidence across Countries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(2), pages 295-314, May.
    15. Anna Maria Mayda, 2006. "Who Is Against Immigration? A Cross-Country Investigation of Individual Attitudes toward Immigrants," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(3), pages 510-530, August.
    16. Lena Calahorrano, 2013. "Population Aging and Individual Attitudes toward Immigration: Disentangling Age, Cohort and Time Effects," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(2), pages 342-353, May.
    17. Samuel Bowles & Herbert Gintis, 2002. "Social Capital and Community Governance," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(483), pages 419-436, November.
    18. Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2015. "Control Function Methods in Applied Econometrics," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(2), pages 420-445.
    19. Anjomani, Ardeshir & Hariri, Vida, 1992. "Migration Stock and the Issue of Competing and Complementary Flows in United States Interstate Migration," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 5(2), pages 87-100, April.
    20. Hainmueller, Jens & Hiscox, Michael J., 2007. "Educated Preferences: Explaining Attitudes Toward Immigration in Europe," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 61(2), pages 399-442, April.
    21. Edward L. Glaeser & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2004. "Do Institutions Cause Growth?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 271-303, September.
    22. Sabatini, Fabio, 2009. "Social capital as social networks: A new framework for measurement and an empirical analysis of its determinants and consequences," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 429-442, June.
    23. Martin Paldam, 2001. "Corruption and Religion Adding to the Economic Model," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2‐3), pages 383-413, May.
    24. Judith L. Goldstein & Margaret E. Peters, 2014. "Nativism or Economic Threat: Attitudes Toward Immigrants During the Great Recession," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(3), pages 376-401, May.
    25. Barry Eichengreen & Douglas A. Irwin, 1998. "The Role of History in Bilateral Trade Flows," NBER Chapters, in: The Regionalization of the World Economy, pages 33-62, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    26. Bellemare, C. & Kroger, S., 2004. "On Representative Social Capital," Other publications TiSEM 1057ef4e-faab-431c-b7e4-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    27. Kan, Kamhon, 2007. "Residential mobility and social capital," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 436-457, May.
    28. Fabio Sabatini, 2008. "Social Capital and the Quality of Economic Development," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 466-499, August.
    29. Francisco Herreros & Henar Criado, 2009. "Social Trust, Social Capital and Perceptions of Immigration," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 57, pages 337-355, June.
    30. J. Eric Oliver & Janelle Wong, 2003. "Intergroup Prejudice in Multiethnic Settings," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(4), pages 567-582, October.
    31. Villalonga-Olives, E. & Kawachi, I., 2017. "The dark side of social capital: A systematic review of the negative health effects of social capital," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 105-127.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Annamaria Nese, 2023. "Migrations in Italy and Perceptions of Ethnic Threat," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 939-968, September.
    2. Lange, Martin, 2021. "The legacy of state socialism on attitudes toward immigration," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 733-750.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Economidou, Claire & Karamanis, Dimitris & Kechrinioti, Alexandra & Xesfingi, Sofia, 2017. "What Shapes Europeans’ Attitudes toward Xeno-philia(/phobia)?," MPRA Paper 76511, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Brenda Gannon & Jennifer Roberts, 2020. "Social capital: exploring the theory and empirical divide," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 899-919, March.
    3. Brenda Gannon & Jennifer Roberts, 2014. "The Multidimensional Nature of Social Capital: An Empirical Investigation for Older People in Europe," Working Papers 2014014, The University of Sheffield, Department of Economics.
    4. Brenda Gannon & Jennifer Roberts, 2012. "Social Capital: Bridging the Theory and Empirical Divide," Working Papers 2012028, The University of Sheffield, Department of Economics.
    5. Harvey S. James Jr., 2015. "Generalized Morality, Institutions and Economic Growth, and the Intermediating Role of Generalized Trust," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 165-196, May.
    6. Hatton, Timothy J., 2014. "Public Opinion on Immigration: Has the Recession Changed Minds?," IZA Discussion Papers 8248, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Chasapopoulos, Panagiotis, 2018. "The impact of international immigration and cultural diversity on economic performance, public attitudes and political outcomes in European regions," Other publications TiSEM d4a10f2a-c1a2-4edd-9887-2, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    8. Huber, Peter & Oberdabernig, Doris A., 2016. "The impact of welfare benefits on natives' and immigrants' attitudes toward immigration," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 53-78.
    9. Huber, Peter & Oberdabernig, Doris A., 2016. "The impact of welfare benefits on natives' and immigrants' attitudes toward immigration," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 53-78.
    10. Okubo, Toshihiro, 2021. "Public preferences on immigration in Japan," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    11. Peter Huber & Doris A. Oberdabernig, 2015. "The Impact of Welfare Benefits on Natives' and Immigrants' Attitudes Towards Immigration. WWWforEurope Working Paper No. 82," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 57890, Juni.
    12. Moriconi, Simone & Peri, Giovanni & Turati, Riccardo, 2022. "Skill of the immigrants and vote of the natives: Immigration and nationalism in European elections 2007–2016," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    13. Francesco Pasimeni & Paolo Pasimeni, 2016. "An Institutional Analysis of the Europe 2020 Strategy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(3), pages 1021-1038, July.
    14. Lange, Martin, 2021. "The legacy of state socialism on attitudes toward immigration," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 733-750.
    15. David Rodriguez-Justicia & Bernd Theilen, 2022. "Immigration and tax morale: the role of perceptions and prejudices," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(4), pages 1801-1832, April.
    16. Cline, Brandon N. & Williamson, Claudia R., 2016. "Trust and the regulation of corporate self-dealing," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 572-590.
    17. Sumit S. Deole & Yue Huang, 2023. "Suffering and prejudice: Do negative emotions predict immigration concerns?," IAAEU Discussion Papers 202303, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    18. Litina, Anastasia, 2012. "Unfavorable land endowment, cooperation, and reversal of fortune," MPRA Paper 39702, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Roberto Antonietti & Ron Boschma, 2021. "Social capital, resilience, and regional diversification in Italy [Social capital, innovation and growth: evidence from Europe]," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 30(3), pages 762-777.
    20. Philippe Aghion & Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc & Andrei Shleifer, 2010. "Regulation and Distrust," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(3), pages 1015-1049.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    immigration; social capital; public attitude; survey; Europe;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • O52 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Europe

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:izajdm:v:11:y:2020:i:1:p:31:n:13. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.