IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/amposc/v63y2019i2p286-304.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Skill Specificity and Attitudes toward Immigration

Author

Listed:
  • Sergi Pardos‐Prado
  • Carla Xena

Abstract

Labor market competition theories explaining anti‐immigrant attitudes have received limited or no empirical validation in recent literature. This has led researchers to highlight education and cultural values as the main, if not the sole, drivers of attitudes toward immigration. We present a new labor market competition theory focusing on job availability rather than foreign labor supply. This theory predicts that individuals with low transferable skills in the labor market will articulate a subjective sense of job insecurity and higher hostility toward migrants. Our cross‐classified, longitudinal, and difference‐in‐differences models reveal that skill specificity is a strong driver of anti‐immigrant attitudes, and they suggest that economic competition theories cannot be dismissed. By shifting the attention from supply to demand in the labor market, and from actual to potential competition with migrants, we show that the highly educated are far from immune to anti‐immigrant attitudes.

Suggested Citation

  • Sergi Pardos‐Prado & Carla Xena, 2019. "Skill Specificity and Attitudes toward Immigration," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 63(2), pages 286-304, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:63:y:2019:i:2:p:286-304
    DOI: 10.1111/ajps.12406
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12406
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ajps.12406?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Iversen, Torben & Soskice, David, 2001. "An Asset Theory of Social Policy Preferences," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 95(4), pages 875-893, 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. Auer, Daniel & Ruedin, Didier, 2023. "Experimental evidence on how implicit racial bias affects risk preferences," SocArXiv wrebf, Center for Open Science.
    2. Dražanová, Lenka & Gonnot, Jérôme & Heidland, Tobias & Krüger, Finja, 2022. "Understanding differences in attitudes to immigration: A meta-analysis of individual-level factors," Kiel Working Papers 2235, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    3. Roman Hlatky, 2023. "The politicization of European integration and support for restrictive migration policies," European Union Politics, , vol. 24(4), pages 684-707, December.
    4. Alizade, Jeyhun, 2024. "The Electoral Politics of Immigration and Crime," OSF Preprints h967e, Center for Open Science.
    5. 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.
    6. Marco Giani & Luca Paolo Merlino, 2021. "Terrorist attacks and minority perceived discrimination," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/351080, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    7. Bolet, Diane, 2020. "Local labour market competition and radical right voting: evidence from France," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103016, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Tobias Müller & Silvio Hong Tiing Tai, 2020. "Individual attitudes towards migration: A re‐examination of the evidence," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(4), pages 1663-1702, November.
    9. Nikolas Kouloglou & George N. Georgarakis, 2023. "Public Support for European Integration in Greece and Italy Between 2015 and 2020," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(3), pages 29-44.
    10. Nicole Wu, 2023. "“Restrict foreigners, not robots”: Partisan responses to automation threat," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(2), pages 505-528, July.

    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. Bruno Amable, 2009. "The Differentiation of Social Demands in Europe. The Social Basis of the European Models of Capitalism," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 91(3), pages 391-426, May.
    2. CRISTE, Adina, 2013. "A General Assessment Of The Monetary Integration Process In Europe After Euro Adoption," Studii Financiare (Financial Studies), Centre of Financial and Monetary Research "Victor Slavescu", vol. 17(4), pages 35-47.
    3. JaeYoul Shin, 2018. "Relative Deprivation, Satisfying Rationality, and Support for Redistribution," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 35-56, November.
    4. Michał Litwiński & Rafał Iwański & Łukasz Tomczak, 2023. "Acceptance for Income Inequality in Poland," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 166(2), pages 381-412, April.
    5. Baptiste Françon, 2013. "Who turned their back on the SPD? Electoral disaffection with the German Social Democratic Party and the Hartz reforms," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 14019, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    6. Rui Esteves & Kris James Mitchener & Peter Nencka & Melissa A. Thomasson, 2022. "Do Pandemics Change Healthcare? Evidence from the Great Influenza," NBER Working Papers 30643, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Reale, Filippo, 2019. "Governing innovation systems: A Parsonian social systems perspective," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    8. repec:zbw:bofitp:2018_007 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-00586260 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Greg Fuller & Alison Johnston & Aidan Regan, 2018. "Bringing the Household Back in. Comparative Capitalism and the Politics of Housing Markets," Working Papers 201807, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    11. Apaydin, Fulya, 2012. "Partisan Preferences and Skill Formation Policies: New Evidence from Turkey and Argentina," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1522-1533.
    12. Bishara, Dina & Jurkovich, Michelle & Berman, Chantal, 2023. "Citizens’ understanding of the social contract: Lessons from Tunisia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    13. Vincent Mahler, 2006. "Electoral Turnout and Income Redistribution by the State: A Cross-National Analysis of the Developed Democracies," LIS Working papers 455, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    14. Maria Grazia Pittau & Riccardo Massari & Roberto Zelli, 2013. "Hierarchical Modelling of Disparities in Preferences for Redistribution," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 75(4), pages 556-584, August.
    15. Thewissen, Stefan & Rueda, David, 2016. "Automation and the Welfare State: Technological Change as a Determinant of Redistribution Preferences," INET Oxford Working Papers 2016-02, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    16. Gonzalez, M. & Wen, W., 2007. "The Supply of Social Insurance," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0772, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    17. Elvire Guillaud, 2013. "Preferences for redistribution: an empirical analysis over 33 countries," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 11(1), pages 57-78, March.
    18. Chang, Alex Chuan-hsien, 2018. "How do Asian values constrain public support for redistribution?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 139-150.
    19. Kemmerling, Achim, 2007. "The end of work or work without end? The role of voters' beliefs in shaping policies of early exit," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Labor Market Policy and Employment SP I 2007-108, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    20. Baptiste Françon, 2013. "Who turned their back on the SPD? Electoral disaffection with the German Social Democratic Party and the Hartz reforms," Post-Print halshs-00973879, HAL.
    21. Bruno Amable & Baptiste Françon, 2014. "The Effect of the Hartz Reform on Unemployment Duration and Post-Unemployment Outcomes. A Difference-in-Differences Approach," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 14020, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    22. Sarah Brockhoff & Stéphane Rossignol & Emmanuelle Taugourdeau, 2012. "The three worlds of welfare capitalism revisited," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00679066, HAL.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wly:amposc:v:63:y:2019:i:2:p:286-304. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1540-5907 .

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.