The Effect of Communism on People's Attitudes Toward Immigration

Abstract

Does living in a communist regime make a person more concerned about immigration? This paper argues conceptually and demonstrates empirically that people’s attitudes toward immigration are affected by their country's politico-economic legacy. Exploiting a quasi-natural experiment arising from the historic division of Germany into East and West, I show that former East Germans, because of their exposure to communism, are notably more likely to be very concerned about immigration than former West Germans. Opposite of what existing literature finds, higher educational attainment in East Germany actually increases concerns. Further, I find that the effect of living in East Germany is driven by former East Germans who were born during, and not before, the communist rule and that differences in attitudes persist even after Germany’s reunification. People's trust in strangers and contact with foreigners represent two salient channels through which communism affects people's preferences toward immigration.

Keywords: immigration, people’s attitudes, communism, Germany

JEL Classification: F22, Z10, J18, P30