Intergroup Contact Versus Competitive Threat: Does Immigration Change Immigration Votes? Evidence From Switzerland Using Objective Municipality‐Level Panel Data From 2010 to 2020

Sebastian Mader, Sarah Kuhn and Matthias Grossrieder

Social Science Quarterly, 2025, vol. 106, issue 1

Abstract: Objective Gordon Allport's intergroup contact hypothesis and Herbert Blumer's competitive threat hypothesis have attracted a lot of attention in the social sciences and have influenced integration policies around the world. A valuable study within this field is of Brunner and Kuhn. Brunner and Kuhn investigated the causal effect of immigration on natives’ attitudes toward immigrants in Switzerland using objective municipality‐level panel data between 1970 and 2010 following an instrumental variable approach. In this article, we conceptually replicate and update the study of Brunner and Kuhn addressing two analytical limitations. Methods We use annual Swiss municipality‐level panel data on the culturally similar and culturally different immigrant share as well as the results of national votes on immigration policies from 2010 to 2020 applying fixed effects with individual slopes panel regression models. Results and conclusion Our analysis confirms the notion that cultural competitive threat may be at work for culturally different migrants in Switzerland. Additionally, intergroup contact seems to foster immigration‐friendly attitudes.

Date: 2025
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