Labor Market Competition with Immigrants and Political Polarization

Abstract

The political consequences of economic globalization has lately been fiercely debated across Europe and the United States, including the role of labor immigration. In this paper we study the party choices of voters facing labor market competition from immigration. To identify the effect of labor market competition we introduce the national skill cell approach, which is designed to isolate a direct partial effect of immigrant competition. By access to detailed, population-wide, administrative data, we get precise measures of Norwegian voters' exposure to competition, and we relate this measure to voting behavior in five national elections. We find a polarizing effect of immigration among voters experiencing negative wage effects of immigration. The polarization points to the existence of a protectionist and a compensatory response, and we propose that predetermined ideological convictions determine the response.

Labour immigration and union strength

“…In textbook models of labour markets, an increase in supply will (in the short run) reduce the relative earnings of workers with comparable skills (Borjas, 2003), and can potentially increase the risk of unemployment (Dustmann et al, 2017). Such eects have been empirically identied in the Norwegian labour market (Bratsberg and Raaum, 2012;Bratsberg et al, 2014;Finseraas et al, 2017). For a given level of union strength, labour market competition might therefore improve the instrumental incentives to unionise, as a higher risk of income loss makes workers more willing to pay the membership fee to receive the insurance that unions provide (Blanchower et al, 1990).…”

“…We study the consequences of increased labour mobility after the EU enlargement in 2004, a topic which has received massive attention both in the popular press and in academic work on Brexit and the rise of populism. (Colantone and Stanig, 2018;Finseraas et al, 2017) The impact on trade unions holds an important position in the debates on the consequences of European labour migration. Although in decline, trade unions are still important agents in the political economy of many European countries.…”

Are we all Charlie? How media priming and framing affect immigration policy preferences after terrorist attacks

“…This could be explained by the low prevalence of egotropic threats from immigration as for example the competition over jobs may affect small groups of people Finseraas, Røed, and Schøne (2017). argue that it is problems with measuring the effects correctly that leads to the null-findings.…”

“… Individual-level (egotropic) concern over immigration has received little support as a determinant of immigration attitudes. argue that this is caused by the low prevalence of this threat in society, whileFinseraas, Røed and Schøne (2017) argue that these concerns have a polarising effect.…”

Påvirker innvandringsscenarier nordmenns holdningertil innvandrere? Et surveyeksperiment

“…En kombinasjon av økt arbeidsledighet og økt innvandring antas derfor å øke skepsisen i majoritetsbefolkningen, spesielt blant de sårbare på arbeidsmarkedet. Finseraas, Røed & Schøne (2017) finner nettopp en økende politisk polarisering blant norske velgere som er spesielt eksponert for økonomisk konkurranse fra innvandrerne. Også Brochmann II-utvalget er opptatt av hvordan økt innvandring fra fattige land kan utfordre den norske modellen (NOU 2017:2, s. 11): «Høy innvandring av personer med små muligheter for selvforsørgelse vil representere en tilleggsutfordring og forsterke presset på offentlige finanser».…”