What determines attitudes to immigration in European countries? An analysis at the regional level

Abstract

Different disciplines within the social sciences have produced large theoretical and empirical literatures to explain the determinants of anti-immigration attitudes. We bring together these literatures in a unified framework and identify testable hypothesis on what characteristics of the individual and of the local environment are likely to have an impact on anti-immigration attitudes. While most of the previous literature focuses on the explanation of attitudes at the individual level, we focus on the impact on regional characteristics (the local context). Our aim is to explain why people living in different regions differ in terms of their attitudes towards immigration. We isolate the impact of regions from regressions using individual-level data and explain this residual regional heterogeneity in attitudes with aggregate level indicators of regional characteristics. We find that regions with a higher percentage of immigrants born outside the EU and a higher unemployment rate among the immigrant population show a higher probability that natives express negative attitudes to immigration. Regions with a higher unemployment rate among natives however, show less pronounced anti-immigrant attitudes.JEL Classification: F22; J15; J61; R19

Perceptions of Migration and Diversity by Local Public Administrators

“…The assumption is that the perception of migration differs according to national experience with migration (Heath, Richards and Ford, ). The size of the municipality is considered because people are likely to form their opinions about migration by drawing on the locality in which they live and work (Markaki and Longhi, ). The length of time spent working in public administration and a respondent’s position are other decisive characteristics that determine perceptions of migration and diversity.…”

“…Public policymakers face competitive, complex and sometimes even contradictory requirements in order to meet citizens’ expectations. The targeted integration of migrants became the subject of scientific and political discourse after the 2007 global economic crisis (Markaki and Longhi, ; OECD, ). At least three analytically different dimensions related to the integration of migrants by the host community can be considered: legal‐political, socio‐economic and cultural‐religious (Penninx, ).…”

Income, amenities and negative attitudes

“…Several papers explain negative attitudes towards immigrants (see, for example Card et al (2005), Markaki and Longhi (2013) and d 'Hombres and Nunziata (2015)). In a companion paper, Larsen and Waisman (2016) examine the impact of discrimination on labour market performance of immigrants in a theoretical setting.…”

Migrants and the transformation of local neighbourhoods: A study of the socioeconomic transformation of Lidcombe, Australia

“…Years of global migration studies have established that when migrants are deemed to exert pressure on the facilities of the host communities, are unemployed, and make little or no contribution to the host economy and society -and they often are so deemed -negative attitudes towards migrants are considerably heightened, sometimes reaching feverish conditions (Markaki & Longhi, 2013). The current "migrant crisis" in Europe, the Americas and elsewhere in the world exemplifies this view, highlighting how migrants are generally perceived: as unwanted.…”