Class Position, Public Expenditure, and Public Attitudes toward Immigration

• In Event: 2384 - Section on International Migration Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 01. Attitudes Towards Immigrants

Abstract

This study employs cross-national data to explore how class position affects people’s attitudes toward immigrants, and how this process is influenced by the public expenditure of their respective country of residence. In the past, most research used educational attainment or socio-economic status to explain people’s attitudes. In contrast, this study highlights the effect of class, as people may adjust their attitudes toward immigrants based on their class’ incentive structure. Using mixed-effect regression models, it analyzes individual-level data from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) and national-level data from the World Bank and the United Nations; it finds: Unskilled workers have the most conservative attitudes toward immigrants, while public spending has generally increased people’s openness to immigrants; however, high public spending has made capitalists and unskilled workers less open to immigration. In other words, class position affects people’s attitudes toward immigrants, and the influencing process is affected by differences in public expenditure among various countries. The attitudes toward immigrants held by members of different classes are influenced by different mechanisms. The fiscal burden approach suggests that capitalists — considering their tax burden — tend to oppose immigration in high public-spending countries because they worry that increased immigration will force them to pay more taxes to maintain public welfare. The public resource competition theory argues that low-skilled workers consider immigrants to be competitors for public resources and therefore generally oppose immigration.

Author

• Ka U Ng, National Taiwan University