Immigration and redistribution revisited: : How Different Motivations Can Offset Each Other
Journal
Journal of European Social Policy
ISSN
0958-9287
ISSN-Digital
1461-7269
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2013-10-01
Author(s)
Abstract
Despite compelling theoretical arguments, research has failed so far to provide conclusive empirical evidence on the relationship between preferences for redistribution and attitudes towards immigration. We argue that social scientists risk making erroneous inferences if the causal link connecting an independent variable to a given outcome is not carefully modelled. This is particularly true in the presence of multiple and partly offsetting intervening variables. We argue that there are at least four motivations linking attitudes towards redistribution and preferred levels of immigration. We observe a statistically significant association between attitudes towards redistribution and preferred levels of immigration, but only after the motivations have been explicitly integrated into the empirical analysis. If the motivations are not explicitly modelled, no systematic relationship between attitudes towards redistribution and preferred levels of immigration can be observed.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
SEPS - Global Democratic Governance
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Sage
Publisher place
London
Volume
23
Number
4
Start page
406
End page
422
Pages
17
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
229673