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Public Opinion on Immigration in Europe: Preference versus Salience

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  • Hatton, Timothy J.

    (University of Essex)

Abstract

There is growing interest among economists in public opinion towards immigration, something that is often seen as the foundation for restrictive immigration policies. Existing studies have focused on the responses to survey questions on whether the individual would prefer more or less immigration but not on his or her assessment of its importance as a policy issue. Here I distinguish between preference and salience. Analysis of data from the European Social Survey and Eurobarometer indicates that these are associated with different individual-level characteristics. At the national level these two dimensions of public opinion move differently over time and in response to different macro-level variables. The results suggest that both dimensions need to be taken into account when assessing the overall climate of public opinion towards immigration. Finally, there is some evidence that both preference and salience are important influences on immigration policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Hatton, Timothy J., 2017. "Public Opinion on Immigration in Europe: Preference versus Salience," IZA Discussion Papers 10838, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10838
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Teresa María García-Muñoz & Juliette Milgram-Baleix, 2021. "Explaining Attitudes Towards Immigration: The Role of Economic Factors," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(4), pages 159-173.
    3. Barrera, Oscar & Guriev, Sergei & Henry, Emeric & Zhuravskaya, Ekaterina, 2020. "Facts, alternative facts, and fact checking in times of post-truth politics," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    4. Poutvaara, Panu & Steinhardt, Max Friedrich, 2018. "Bitterness in life and attitudes towards immigration," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 471-490.
    5. Timothy J. Hatton, 2020. "Asylum Migration to the Developed World: Persecution, Incentives, and Policy," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(1), pages 75-93, Winter.
    6. 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.
    7. Richard Grieveson & Michael Landesmann & Isilda Mara, 1970. "Future Migration Flows to the EU: Adapting Policy to the New Reality in a Managed and Sustainable Way," wiiw Policy Notes 49, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
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    9. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/1dhd1b1s319fbai85khk40fudc is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Massimiliano Agovino & Maria Rosaria Carillo & Nicola Spagnolo, 2022. "Effect of Media News on Radicalization of Attitudes to Immigration," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 5(4), pages 318-340, December.
    11. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/1dhd1b1s319fbai85khk40fudc is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Esther Ademmer & Anna Leupold & Tobias Stöhr, 2019. "Much ado about nothing? The (non-) politicisation of the European Union in social media debates on migration," European Union Politics, , vol. 20(2), pages 305-327, June.
    13. Deole, Sumit S. & Huang, Yue, 2020. "How do new immigration flows affect existing immigrants? Evidence from the refugee crisis in Germany," GLO Discussion Paper Series 579, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    14. Erminia Florio, 2019. "Are We in The Same Boat? The Legacy of Historical Emigration on Attitudes towards Immigrants," CEIS Research Paper 478, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 12 Nov 2021.
    15. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1dhd1b1s319fbai85khk40fudc is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Aziz Ahmed, 2019. "Impacts of Vocational Training for Socio-economic Development of Afghan Refugees in Labor Markets of Host Societies in Baluchistan," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 751-768, August.
    17. Tobias Böhmelt & Vincenzo Bove & Enzo Nussio, 2020. "Can Terrorism Abroad Influence Migration Attitudes at Home?," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 64(3), pages 437-451, July.
    18. Zuzana Ringlerova, 2022. "The Impact of Immigration on Attitudes toward the EU: Evidence from a Three‐Country Survey Experiment," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(2), pages 391-407, March.
    19. Palermo, Francesco & Sergi, Bruno S. & Sironi, Emiliano, 2022. "Does urbanization matter? Diverging attitudes toward migrants and Europe's decision-making," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    20. Yaël Drunen & Bram Spruyt & Filip Droogenbroeck, 2021. "The Salience of Perceived Societal Conflict in Europe: A 27 Country Study on the Development of a Measure for Generalized Conflict Thinking," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(2), pages 595-635, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    salience; attitudes to immigration; public opinion;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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