Illegal Immigration and Media Exposure: Evidence on Individual Attitudes

41 Pages Posted: 13 Aug 2009 Last revised: 18 Aug 2009

See all articles by Riccardo Puglisi

Riccardo Puglisi

University of Pavia; University of Milan - Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano (LdA)

Giovanni Facchini

Tinbergen Institute

Anna Maria Mayda

Georgetown University - Department of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: 2009

Abstract

Illegal immigration has been the focus of much debate in receiving countries, but little is known about what drives individual attitudes towards illegal immigrants. To study this question, we use the CCES survey, which was carried out in 2006 in the United States. We find evidence that -in addition to standard labor market and welfare state considerations- media exposure significantly affects public opinion on illegal immigration. Controlling for education, income and ideology, individuals watching Fox News are 9 percentage points more likely than CBS viewers to oppose the legalization of undocumented immigrants. We find an effect of the same size and direction for CNN viewers, while instead individuals watching PBS are more likely to support the Senate proposal. Ideological self-selection into different news programs is a crucial factor, but cannot entirely explain the correlation between media exposure and attitudes about illegal immigration.

Keywords: Immigration, Illegal Immigration, Attitudes, Preferences, Media

JEL Classification: F22, F1, J61

Suggested Citation

Puglisi, Riccardo and Facchini, Giovanni and Mayda, Anna Maria, Illegal Immigration and Media Exposure: Evidence on Individual Attitudes (2009). APSA 2009 Toronto Meeting Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1451338

Riccardo Puglisi (Contact Author)

University of Pavia ( email )

Corso Strada Nuova, 65
27100 Pavia, 27100
Italy

University of Milan - Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano (LdA) ( email )

Via P. Amedeo 34
Milano, Mi 20122
Italy

Giovanni Facchini

Tinbergen Institute ( email )

Burg. Oudlaan 50
Rotterdam, 3062 PA
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://paople.few.eur.nl/facchini

Anna Maria Mayda

Georgetown University - Department of Economics ( email )

Washington, DC 20057
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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