“Race Coding” and White Opposition to Welfare

Gilens, Martin

doi:10.2307/2082611

Cited by 414 publications

(381 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…United States Using data from the 1986 National Election Study, the 1994 General Social Survey, and the 1991 National Race and Politics Study, Gilens (1995Gilens ( , 1996Gilens ( , 1999 shows that racial stereotypes are important predictors of the support for welfare spending among white Americans. 4 Moreover, Gilens (1999) documents that black people are overrepresented in the media coverage of poverty, and in particular in the least sympathetic stories.…”

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confidence: 99%

Ethnic Diversity and Attitudes Towards Redistribution: A Review of the Literature

Stichnoth

Straeten

2009

SSRN Journal

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Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar.Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW.Download this ZEW Discussion Paper from our ftp server:ftp://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp09036.pdf Non-technical summaryThere is a large literature on the costs and benefits of immigration within a given system of social security. More recently, economists have begun to address a related question: does immigration and, more generally, ethnic diversity change this system of social security in turn?A number of empirical studies suggest that ethnic diversity does indeed matter for the extent of redistribution. First, there is evidence that actual public spending is associated with the degree of ethnic diversity. Second, studies that attempt to explore the mechanisms behind this aggregate relationship have found that individual attitudes and behaviour are affected by ethnic diversity.The purpose of this paper is to survey this empirical literature. We cover the studies that have appeared since the survey by Alesina and La Ferrara (2005) in the Journal of Economic Literature. In particular, we review the fast-growing literature that uses controlled experiments to study the effects of ethnic diversity on redistribution.Our main conclusion from this survey is that although numerous studies document a negative and statistically significant relationship, most of these studies do not point to a quantitatively important role for ethnic diversity in shaping natives' preferences for redistribution. In most studies, the association is much weaker than for other factors such as own income (current or expected) or beliefs about the role of effort versus luck in determining this income.Moreover, it seems that the sizeable negative association between ethnic diversity and support for redistribution that is sometimes found in U.S. studies does not generalize to Canada or Europe. However, the evidence for countries other than the U.S. is scarce so far, and there is certainly need for further research. Das Wichtigste in Kürze (German summary) AbstractWe review the empirical literature that studies the effect of ethnic diversity on the welfare state and on individual attitudes. The outcome variables that we cover in the survey are on the one hand public spending, and on the other hand individual attitudes and behaviour, including charity spending. We also review the fast-growing literature that uses experiments to study the effects of ethnic diversity. Many of these studies have appeared since the pioneering survey by Alesina and La Ferrara (2005a), and have not been covered by a s...

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confidence: 99%

Ethnic Diversity and Attitudes Towards Redistribution: A Review of the Literature

Stichnoth

Straeten

2009

SSRN Journal

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“…Martin Gilens (1996) found that-among ideology and other personal characteristics-racial attitudes were the most salient explanation of whites' positions on welfare policy. Through this lens, the reasoning behind some residents' opposition to the Mayor's plan, such as increased crime or loitering around the proposed shelter sites, can be viewed as coded statements that reflect longstanding racial stereotypes.…”

Section: Neighborhood Oppositionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Washington DC’s Transitional Housing Plan: An Analysis of Externalities and Sources of Neighborhood Opposition

Meni¹

2017

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Policy Perspectives / Volume 24 96 I n 2016, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser's administration unveiled a plan to close the DC General homeless shelter and replace it with eight smaller sites throughout the city. Almost immediately, some residents located near the proposed shelter sites expressed disapproval, citing concerns over safety and decreasing property values. We can interpret such reservations as perceived negative externalities of shelters. This paper first takes those claims at face value and finds mixed evidence of whether the proposed DC shelters would produce negative externalities for neighborhoods. The paper then explores other economic rationale for neighborhood opposition to the plan-risk-averse behavior on the part of homeowners. The paper concludes with a proposal for home equity insurance that could potentially balance homeowners' risk aversion and vested interests in neighborhood outcomes.

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“…In these cases, the metaphor presents racial discourse as a "trump" card that boldly attempts to "win a hand." "Playing the race card" also refers to insinuations or coded references that may signify race, but are meant to be undetectable as "racial," such as "urban," "welfare," or "inner city" (Gilens, 1996;Lee & Morin, 2009). Political "conservatives" are often said to play on race either to trivialize racial discourse or to provoke white voters through implicit racial fears (Mendelberg, 2001).…”

Section: Trumping Tropes With Joke(r)smentioning

confidence: 99%