Immigration in Europe and Latin America: A Comparative Analysis of Preferences

• In Event: The Political, Economic and Social Ramifications of Immigration

Abstract

The study of immigration has received a lot of attention in recent times as a consequence of the increased political salience of the topic. Most of the work on immigration has focused on European countries and the United States. Yet, immigration has become a pressing issue in Latin America, as the flow of people to countries outside the region has reduced since the 2000s while immigration within Latin American countries has increased. Immigration in the region has also become a central concern. Escalating violence and political and economic instability in countries like Venezuela, Colombia, and Nicaragua have forced people to be displaced to neighboring countries, triggering diverse responses from the governments and citizens of the receiving countries.
In this paper, we develop a comparative analysis of Latin American and European countries to explore how the socio-economic and political context in which individuals live and the immigration policies adopted by governments affect immigration attitudes and decisions. We explore two related questions. On the one hand, we use survey data to answer when and why individuals choose to migrate to a different country. On the other, via conjoint experiments, we examine how natives of the receiving country react to immigration and form preferences on the issue depending on various factors such as the part of the country where they live as well as the origin and volume of immigrants. This project contributes to the growing literature on immigration by shedding light on the commonalities and differences that characterize immigration attitudes and decisions in two different regions.

Authors

• Zoila Ponce de Leon, Washington & Lee University

• Gabriele Magni, Princeton University