Individual Attitudes Towards Immigrants: Welfare-State Determinants Across Countries

44 Pages Posted: 3 Aug 2006

See all articles by Giovanni Facchini

Giovanni Facchini

Tinbergen Institute

Anna Maria Mayda

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

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: May 2006

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. Under the first scenario, immigration has a larger impact on individuals at the top of the income distribution, while under the second one it is low-income individuals who are most affected through this channel. Individual attitudes are consistent with the first welfare-state scenario 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). Such results are confirmed when we exploit international differences in the characteristics of destination countries' welfare state.

Keywords: Immigration attitudes, welfare state, political economy

JEL Classification: F1, F22, J61

Suggested Citation

Facchini, Giovanni and Mayda, Anna Maria, Individual Attitudes Towards Immigrants: Welfare-State Determinants Across Countries (May 2006). CEPR Discussion Paper No. 5702, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=922114

Giovanni Facchini (Contact Author)

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