Explaining Individual Attitudes Toward Immigration in Europe 

 We have written a paper that investigates individual attitudes toward immigration in 22 European countries. In line with our research on individual attitudes toward trade policies (see previous blog entries  here ,  here , and  here ), we find that a simple labour market model (a la Heckscher-Ohlin) does not do very well in accounting for preferences at the individual level. This finding resonates well with economic theory, given that more recent economic models are actually quite equivocal about whether immigrants will have an adverse impact on the wages or employment opportunities of local workers with similar skills (see our discussion of these models  here ). 

 Please find our abstract after the jump. Here is the link to the  paper . As always, comments are highly appreciated. 


 Educated Preferences: Explaining Attitudes Toward Immigration In Europe: 

 Recent studies of individual attitudes toward immigration emphasize concerns about labor market competition as a potent source of anti-immigrant sentiment, in particular among less-educated or less-skilled citizens who fear being forced to compete for jobs with low-skilled immigrants willing to work for much lower wages. We examine new data on attitudes toward immigration available from the 2003 European Social Survey. In contrast to predictions based upon conventional arguments about labor market competition, which anticipate that individuals will oppose immigration of workers with similar skills to their own, but support immigration of workers with different skill levels, we find that people with higher levels of education and occupational skills are more likely to favor immigration regardless of the skill attributes of the immigrants in question. Across Europe, higher education and higher skills mean more support for all types of immigrants. These relationships are almost identical among individuals in the labor force (i.e., those competing for jobs) and those not in the labor force. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, then, the connection between the education or skill levels of individuals and views about immigration appears to have very little, if anything, to do with fears about labor market competition. This finding is consistent with extensive economic research showing that the income and employment effects of immigration in European economies are actually very small. We find that a large component of the effect of education on attitudes toward immigrants is associated with differences among individuals in cultural values and beliefs. More educated respondents are significantly less racist and place greater value on cultural diversity than their counterparts; they are also more likely to believe that immigration generates benefits for the host economy as a whole.