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Does the Welfare State Affect Individual Attitudes towards Immigrants? Evidence Across Countries

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Author Info

  • Giovanni Facchini

    (University of Milan, CEPR and LdA)

  • Anna Maria Mayda

    (Georgetown University, CEPR, IZA and LdA)

Abstract

This paper analyzes welfare-state determinants of individual attitudes towards immigrants - within and across countries - and their interaction with labor-market drivers of preferences. We consider two different mechanisms through which a redistributive welfare system might adjust as a result of immigration. In the first model, immigration has a larger impact on individuals at the top of the income distribution, while under the second model it is low-income individuals who are most a®ected through this channel. Individual attitudes are consistent with the first welfare-state model and with labor-market determinants of immigration attitudes. In countries where natives are on average more skilled than immigrants, individual income is negatively correlated with pro-immigration preferences, while individual skill is positively correlated with them. These relationships have the opposite signs in economies characterized by skilled migration (relative to the native population). These results are confirmed when we exploit international differences in the characteristics of destination countries\' welfare state.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Centro Studi Luca d\'Agliano, University of Milano in its series Development Working Papers with number 233.

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Length: 42
Date of creation: 02 May 2007
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:csl:devewp:233

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Keywords: Immigration Attitudes; Welfare State; Political Economy;

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References

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Moritz Bonn, 2011. "High Skilled Immigration Policy and Union Wage Setting," Volkswirtschaftliche Diskussionsbeiträge 147-11, Universität Siegen, Fakultät Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Wirtschaftsinformatik und Wirtschaftsrecht, revised 27 Aug 2012.
  2. König, Jan & Skupnik, Christoph, 2012. "Labor market integration of migrants: Hidden costs and benefits in two-tier welfare states," Discussion Papers 2012/5, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
  3. Mayda, Anna Maria, 2008. "Why are people more pro-trade than pro-migration?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 160-163, December.
  4. Michael Fertig & Christoph Schmidt, 2011. "Attitudes towards foreigners and Jews in Germany: identifying the determinants of xenophobia in a large opinion survey," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 99-128, March.
  5. Facchini, Giovanni & Steinhardt, Max, 2011. "What Drives U.S. Immigration Policy? Evidence from Congressional Roll Call Votes," IZA Discussion Papers 5561, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  6. Facchini, Giovanni & Mayda, Anna Maria, 2009. "The Political Economy of Immigration Policy," MPRA Paper 19179, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  7. Moritz Bonn, 2011. "The Effects of High Skilled Immigration in a Dual Labour Market with Union Wage Setting and Fiscal Redistribution," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201121, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
  8. Lena Calahorrano, 2011. "Population Aging and Individual Attitudes toward Immigration: Disentangling Age, Cohort and Time Effects," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 389, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
  9. Berlinschi, Ruxanda & Squicciarini, Mara, 2011. "On the Political Economy of Illegal Immigration," Open Access publications from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven urn:hdl:123456789/319676, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
  10. Brücker, Herbert & Schröder, Philipp J.H., 2010. "Migration Regulation Contagion," Working Papers 10-22, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Department of Economics.
  11. Aleksynska, Mariya, 2011. "Relative deprivation, relative satisfaction, and attitudes towards immigrants: Evidence from Ukraine," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 189-207, June.

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