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Immigration and preferences for redistribution in Europe1
[Goodbye Lenin (or not): the effect of communism on people’s preferences]

Author

Listed:
  • Alberto Alesina
  • Elie Murard
  • Hillel Rapoport

Abstract

We examine the relationship between immigration and preferences for redistribution in Europe using a newly assembled dataset of immigrant stocks for 140 regions in 16 Western European countries. Exploiting within-country variations in the share of immigrants at the regional level, we find that native respondents display lower support for redistribution when the share of immigrants in their residence region is higher. This negative association is driven by regions of countries with relatively large welfare states and by respondents at the center or at the right of the political spectrum. It is stronger when immigrants originate from Middle-Eastern or Eastern European countries, are less skilled than natives and experience more residential segregation. These results are unlikely to be driven by immigrants’ endogenous location choices, that is, by welfare magnet effects or by immigrants’ sorting into regions with better economic opportunities. They are also robust to instrumenting immigration using a standard shift-share approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Alberto Alesina & Elie Murard & Hillel Rapoport, 2021. "Immigration and preferences for redistribution in Europe1 [Goodbye Lenin (or not): the effect of communism on people’s preferences]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 21(6), pages 925-954.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jecgeo:v:21:y:2021:i:6:p:925-954.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jeg/lbab002
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Iñigo Iturbe-Ormaetxe & Santiago Sanchez-Pages & Angel Solano-Garcia, 2023. "Contested Elections And The Power Of New Voters: The Impact Of Extending Voting Rights To Non-Citizens," ThE Papers 23/11, Department of Economic Theory and Economic History of the University of Granada..
    2. Olivier Bargain & Victor Stephane & Jérôme Valette, 2022. "Another brick in the wall. Immigration and electoral preferences: Direct evidence from state ballots," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 1452-1477, November.
    3. Riccardo Bruni & Alessandro Gioffré & Maria Marino, 2022. ""In-group bias in preferences for redistribution: a survey experiment in Italy"," IREA Working Papers 202223, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Nov 2023.
    4. Moriconi, Simone & Peri, Giovanni & Turati, Riccardo, 2022. "Skill of the immigrants and vote of the natives: Immigration and nationalism in European elections 2007–2016," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    5. Frédéric Docquier & Lucas Guichard & Stefano Iandolo & Hillel Rapoport & Riccardo Turati & Gonzague Vannoorenberghe, 2022. "Populism and the Skill-Content of Globalization: Evidence from the Last 60 Years," CESifo Working Paper Series 10068, CESifo.
    6. Fremerey, Melinda & Hörnig, Lukas & Schaffner, Sandra, 2024. "Becoming neighbors with refugees and voting for the far-right? The impact of refugee inflows at the small-scale level," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    7. Lenka Dražanová & Jérôme Gonnot, 2023. "Public Opinion and Immigration in Europe: Can Regional Migration Flows Predict Public Attitudes to Immigration?," RSCAS Working Papers 2023/18, European University Institute.
    8. Zineb Abidi & Emmanuelle Taugourdeau, 2024. "Tax competition and harmonization where tastes for public goods differ," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 31(4), pages 953-979, August.
    9. Sumit S. Deole & Yue Huang, 2024. "Suffering and prejudice: do negative emotions predict immigration concerns?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 1-39, June.
    10. Monica Bozzano & Simona Scabrosetti, 2024. "Preferences for Redistribution: Two Decades of Gender Gaps and Generational Differences in Europe," Working papers 113, Società Italiana di Economia Pubblica.
    11. Pablo Argote & Lucas Perelló, 2024. "Explaining the Impact of South-South Migration: Evidence from Chile’s Immigration Boom," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 2071-2093, December.
    12. Ms. Paola Giuliano & Mr. Antonio Spilimbergo, 2024. "Aggregate Shocks and the Formation of Preferences and Beliefs," IMF Working Papers 2024/195, International Monetary Fund.
    13. Tito Boeri & Matteo Gamalerio & Massimo Morelli & Margherita Negri, 2024. "Pay-as-they-get-in: attitudes toward migrants and pension systems," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 24(1), pages 63-78.
    14. Kerstin Mitterbacher & Stefan Palan & Jürgen Fleiß, 2024. "Intergroup cooperation in the lab: asymmetric power relations and redistributive policies," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 51(4), pages 877-912, November.
    15. Nate Breznau & Eike Mark Rinke & Alexander Wuttke & Hung H. V. Nguyen & Muna Adem & Jule Adriaans & Amalia Alvarez-Benjumea & Henrik K. Andersen & Daniel Auer & Flavio Azevedo & Oke Bahnsen & Dave Bal, 2022. "Observing many researchers using the same data and hypothesis reveals a hidden universe of uncertainty," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 119(44), pages 2203150119-, November.
    16. Schütt, Christoph A. & Pipke, David & Detlefsen, Lena & Grimalda, Gianluca, 2023. "Does ethnic heterogeneity decrease workers’ effort in the presence of income redistribution? An experimental analysis," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Cetre, Sophie & Algan, Yann & Grimalda, Gianluca & Murtin, Fabrice & Pipke, David & Putterman, Louis & Schmidt, Ulrich & Siegerink, Vincent, 2024. "Ethnic bias, economic achievement and trust between large ethnic groups: A study in Germany and the U.S," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 996-1021.
    18. Pascal Achard & Sigrid Suetens, 2023. "The causal effect of ethnic diversity on support for redistribution and the role of discrimination," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(5), pages 1678-1696, December.
    19. Fazio, Andrea & Giaccherini, Matilde, 2024. "Weight, Stigma, and Attitudes toward Immigrants," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1470, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    20. Simone Maxand & Hend Sallam, 2024. "Local Fiscal Effects of Immigration in Germany," CESifo Working Paper Series 11162, CESifo.
    21. Frédéric Docquier & Ariane Gordan & Michel Tenikue & Aleksa Uljarevic, 2024. "Attitudes towards Immigration in a Highly Multicultural Society: The Roles of Foreign Background and Local Exposure," LISER Working Paper Series 2024-08, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    22. Bozzano, Monica & Profeta, Paola & Puglisi, Riccardo & Scabrosetti, Simona, 2024. "Women’s voice on redistribution: From gender equality to equalizing taxation," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    23. Lebow, Jeremy & Moreno-Medina, Jonathan & Mousa, Salma & Coral, Horacio, 2024. "Migrant exposure and anti-migrant sentiment: The case of the Venezuelan exodus," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Immigration; income redistribution; population heterogeneity; welfare systems;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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