Information Shocks, Attitudes towards Immigrants, and Hate Crime

Jake Bradley, Facundo Albornoz, Silvia Sonderegger, Rodríguez, Jesús and Devesh Rustagi
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Jake Bradley: University of Nottingham
Facundo Albornoz: University of Nottingham
Silvia Sonderegger: University of Nottingham
Rodríguez, Jesús: University of Nottingham

CAGE Online Working Paper Series from Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE)

Abstract: There are concerns over the rise in populism and hate crimes targeting minorities in democracies. We examine whether national information shocks triggered by political events play a role. Focusing on two UK events that revealed nationwide anti-immigrant sentiment, we document counterintuitive results: large persistent surges in hate crimes in the post-event periods in areas with pro-immigrant, rather than anti-immigrant, attitudes. We show that the xenophobic minority residing in pro-immigrant areas experience stronger belief shocks from these events, inducing them to update their beliefs about social acceptability of hate. Our findings highlight how heterogeneous priors interact with national events to amplify xenophobic behavior.

Keywords: Information shocks; attitudes towards immigrants; hate crimes; United Kingdom JEL Classification: C72; D80; P0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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