Pay-As-They-Get-In: Attitudes Towards Migrants and Pension Systems

Tito Boeri, Matteo Gamalerio, Massimo Morelli () and Margherita Negri
Additional contact information
Matteo Gamalerio: University of Barcelona
Massimo Morelli: Bocconi University

No 15989, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We study whether a better knowledge of the functioning of pay-as-you-go pension systems and recent demographic trends in the hosting country affects natives' attitudes towards immigration. In two online experiments in Italy and Spain, we randomly treated participants with a video explaining how, in pay-as-you-go pension systems, the payment of current pensions depends on the contributions paid by current workers. The video also explains that the ratio between the number of pensioners and the number of workers in their countries will grow substantially in the future. We find that the treatment improves participants' knowledge about how a pay-as-you-go system works and the future demographic trends in their country. However, we find that only treated participants who do not support populist and anti-immigrant parties display more positive attitudes towards migrants, even though the treatment increases knowledge of pension systems and demographic trends for all participants.

Keywords: pay-as-you-go pension systems; immigration; experiment; information provision; population ageing; populism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C90 D83 F22 H55 J15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 44 pages
Date: 2023-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-exp, nep-lab and nep-mig
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published - published in: Journal of Economic Geography, 2024, 24 (1), 63–78

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https://docs.iza.org/dp15989.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Pay-as-they-get-in: attitudes toward migrants and pension systems (2024)
Working Paper: Pay-as-they-get-in: Attitudes towards Migrants and Pension Systems (2023)
Working Paper: Pay-as-they-get-in: attitudes towards migrants and pension systems (2023)
Working Paper: Pay-as-they-get-in: Attitudes towards Migrants and Pension Systems (2023)
Working Paper: Pay-as-they-get-in: attitudes towards migrants and pension systems (2023)
Working Paper: PAY-AS-THEY-GET-IN: ATTITUDES TOWARDS MIGRANTS AND PENSION SYSTEMS (2023)
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