What do you fear? Anti-immigrant sentiment in Latin America

Covadonga Meseguer and Achim Kemmerling

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: In this article, we study the material determinants of anti-immigrant sentiment in Latin America. Based on new data on immigration to non-Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, we use the workhorse distributive theories that anticipate who wins and who loses from immigration and test their predictive capacity in labor-abundant countries. We exploit the variation in regional immigration rates, in the skill composition of natives versus migrants, and in the relative generosity of Latin American welfare states. We find that fears of labor-market competition are weak predictors of anti-immigrant sentiment. In contrast, fears of greater tax burdens are strong and robust predictors of anti-immigrant sentiment. We conclude that studying Latin American public opinion opens new avenues for theorizing about anti-immigrant sentiment in developing countries.

Keywords: Anti-immigrant sentiment; labor market competition; welfare state; Latin America; South-South migration; developing countries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-04-27
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in International Migration Review, 27, April, 2016. ISSN: 0197-9183

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