IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eso/journl/v48y2017i3p253-279.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Irish Welcome? Changing Irish Attitudes to Immigrants and Immigration: The Role of Recession and Immigration

Author

Listed:
  • Frances McGinnity

    (Economic and Social Research Institute and Trinity College Dublin)

  • Gillian Kingston

    (Trinity College Dublin)

Abstract

This paper investigates attitudes to immigrants in Ireland in the period 2002 to 2012 and the role of economic recession, the increase in immigration, and respondents’ level of education on understanding changing attitudes. Attitudes to immigrants in Ireland became more negative as unemployment rose, but once we account for this, a higher proportion of immigrants was associated with more positive attitudes. Highly educated respondents (with third-level qualifications) report more favourable attitudes to immigrants than those with lower education. The attitudes of those with lower education were more responsive to economic conditions, meaning the gap in attitudes between high and low educated widened in recession.

Suggested Citation

  • Frances McGinnity & Gillian Kingston, 2017. "An Irish Welcome? Changing Irish Attitudes to Immigrants and Immigration: The Role of Recession and Immigration," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 48(3), pages 253-279.
    • Handle: RePEc:eso:journl:v:48:y:2017:i:3:p:253-279
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.esr.ie/article/view/769/162
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    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," CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1233, Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London.
    2. Gillian Kingston & Frances McGinnity & Philip J O’Connell, 2015. "Discrimination in the labour market: nationality, ethnicity and the recession," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 29(2), pages 213-232, April.
    3. Dustmann Christian & Preston Ian P, 2007. "Racial and Economic Factors in Attitudes to Immigration," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 7(1), pages 1-41, November.
    4. Alan Barrett & Adele Bergin & Elish Kelly, 2011. "Estimating the Impact of Immigration on the Wages in Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 42(1), pages 01-26.
    5. Elish Kelly & Seamus McGuinness & Philip J O’connell & David Haugh & Alberto GonzÁlez Pandiella, 2014. "Transitions In and Out of Unemployment among Young People in the Irish Recession," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 56(4), pages 616-634, December.
    6. Alan Barrett & Séamus McGuiness, 2012. "The Irish Labour Market and the Great Recession," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 10(2), pages 27-33, 08.
    7. Marco Manacorda & Alan Manning & Jonathan Wadsworth, 2012. "The Impact Of Immigration On The Structure Of Wages: Theory And Evidence From Britain," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(1), pages 120-151, February.
    8. 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.
    9. Timothy J. Hatton, 2016. "Immigration, public opinion and the recession in Europe," Economic Policy, CEPR;CES;MSH, vol. 31(86), pages 205-246.
    10. Richard Layte & Helen Russell, 2016. "Introduction," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 47(4), pages 447-450.
    11. repec:ces:ifodic:v:10:y:2012:i:2:p:18948043 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. McGinnity, Fran & Russell, Helen & Watson, Dorothy & Kingston, Gillian & Kelly, Elish, 2014. "Winners and Losers? The Equality Impact of the Great Recession in Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number BKMNEXT265.
    13. Kingston, Gillian & McGinnity, Frances & O'Connell, Philip J., 2015. "Discrimination in the Labour Market: Nationality, Ethnicity and the Recession," Papers RB2015/2/2, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    14. Jennifer A. Heerwig & Brian J. McCabe, 2009. "Education and Social Desirability Bias: The Case of a Black Presidential Candidate," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 90(3), pages 674-686, September.
    15. Kevin Denny & Cormac Ó Gráda, 2013. "Irish Attitudes To Immigration During And After The Boom," Working Papers 201322, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    16. 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.
    17. Alexander L. Janus, 2010. "The Influence of Social Desirability Pressures on Expressed Immigration Attitudes," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 91(4), pages 928-946, December.
    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. McGinnity, Frances & Creighton, Mathew & Fahey, Éamonn, 2020. "Hidden versus revealed attitudes: a list experiment on support for minorities in Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number BKMNEXT372.
    2. McGinnity, Fran & Grotti, Raffaele & Russell, Helen & Fahey, Éamonn, 2018. "Attitudes to Diversity in Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number BKMNEXT350.

    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. McGinnity, Fran & Grotti, Raffaele & Russell, Helen & Fahey, Éamonn, 2018. "Attitudes to Diversity in Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number BKMNEXT350.
    2. Simone Schüller, 2016. "The Effects of 9/11 on Attitudes toward Immigration and the Moderating Role of Education," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(4), pages 604-632, November.
    3. Jeworrek, Sabrina & Leisen, Bernd Josef & Mertins, Vanessa, 2020. "Gift-exchange in society and the social integration of refugees: Evidence from a field, a laboratory, and a survey experiment," IWH Discussion Papers 17/2019, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    4. 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.
    5. Giovanni Facchini & Anna Maria Mayda & Riccardo Puglisi, 2017. "Illegal immigration and media exposure: evidence on individual attitudes," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-36, December.
    6. Ortega, Francesc & Polavieja, Javier G., 2012. "Labor-market exposure as a determinant of attitudes toward immigration," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 298-311.
    7. Alesina, Alberto & Murard, Elie & Rapoport, Hillel, 2019. "Immigration and Preferences for Redistribution in Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 12130, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Brunner, Beatrice & Kuhn, Andreas, 2014. "Immigration, Cultural Distance and Natives' Attitudes Towards Immigrants: Evidence from Swiss Voting Results," IZA Discussion Papers 8409, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Sarah Bridges & Simona Mateut, 2009. "Attitudes towards immigration in Europe," Working Papers 2009008, The University of Sheffield, Department of Economics, revised May 2009.
    10. Kehrberg Jason, 2020. "Authoritarianism, Prejudice, and Support for Welfare Chauvinism in the United States," Statistics, Politics and Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 11(2), pages 195-212, December.
    11. 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.
    12. Sebastian Fietkau & Kasper M Hansen, 2018. "How perceptions of immigrants trigger feelings of economic and cultural threats in two welfare states," European Union Politics, , vol. 19(1), pages 119-139, March.
    13. Hansen, Ole-Petter Moe & Legge, Stefan, 2015. "Trading off Welfare and Immigration in Europe," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 22/2015, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    14. Tobias Müller & Silvio H. T. Tai, 2010. "Who Opposes Immigrants' Integration into the Labor Market? The Swiss Case," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 146(IV), pages 741-767, December.
    15. Giovanni Facchini & Anna Maria Mayda, 2006. "Individual Attitudes towards Immigrants: Welfare-State Determinants Across Countries," Working Papers gueconwpa~06-06-02, Georgetown University, Department of Economics.
    16. Catalina Amuedo‐Dorantes & Thitima Puttitanun, 2011. "Gender Differences In Native Preferences Toward Undocumented And Legal Immigration: Evidence From San Diego," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 29(1), pages 31-45, January.
    17. H鲩court & Spielvogel, 2014. "Beliefs, media exposure and policy preferences on immigration: evidence from Europe," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(2), pages 225-239, January.
    18. Anthony Edo & Lionel Ragot & Hillel Rapoport & Sulin Sardoschau & Andreas Steinmayr & Arthur Sweetman, 2020. "An introduction to the economics of immigration in OECD countries," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(4), pages 1365-1403, November.
    19. 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.
    20. Stelios Roupakias & Michael Chletsos, 2020. "Immigration and far-right voting: evidence from Greece," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 65(3), pages 591-617, December.

    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:eso:journl:v:48:y:2017:i:3:p:253-279. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: . General contact details of provider: https://www.esr.ie .

    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: Martina Lawless (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.esr.ie .

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.