Public Opinion on Immigration: Has the Recession Changed Minds?

Hatton, Timothy J.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2457351

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 44 publications

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“…Republicans' recent negative attitudes toward trade appear to be less motivated by ideological concerns or individual economic circumstances but more motivated by Donald Trump's antitrade positions and rhetoric. Indeed, drastic change in Americans' trade opinion has led one commentator to state that “American public opinion has been Trumpified” (Matthews, 2018). However, the role of elite leadership has rarely been emphasized in systematic studies of changes in trade attitudes.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Partisanship, Trump favorability, and changes in support for trade

Keser,

Garand,

et al. 2023

Pres Stud Q

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Why has the relationship between partisan identification and Americans' trade attitudes shifted in recent years? We suggest that recent shifts in trade attitudes among partisans are driven by Donald Trump, who staked out a position on trade that is at odds with the position on trade traditionally held by Republicans. Using panel data from the Voter Study Group (VSG) surveys from 2011, 2016, and 2017, we conduct cross‐sectional analyses showing that the relationship between partisanship and trade attitudes has shifted dramatically from 2011 to 2016/2017; in 2011, Republicans were significantly more supportive of expanded trade, but by 2016/2017 the relationship had reversed, with Democrats significantly more supportive of trade. We link changes over time in trade attitudes with how Americans evaluate Trump: individuals with favorable attitudes toward Donald Trump are significantly more likely to shift their attitudes in an antitrade direction from 2011 to 2016. Because so many more Republicans have favorable attitudes toward Trump, the aggregate effect of Trump favorability is to shift Republicans as a group to be less favorable toward trade than Democrats. We suggest that Donald Trump has had a transformative effect on Americans' trade attitudes, with previous supporters (opponents) of expanded trade now expressing opposing (supporting) attitudes.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Partisanship, Trump favorability, and changes in support for trade

Keser,

Garand,

et al. 2023

Pres Stud Q

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Austerity, Short-term Economic Recovery and Public Perception of Immigration in Ireland

Creighton

Gusciute

McGinnity

2022

Soc

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The economic crisis of 2007/2008 did not affect all members of the European Union (EU) to the same extent. In the Irish case, the economic crisis and subsequent period of austerity paralleled an erosion in public support for immigration. However, little is known about how public perception changed during a period of short-term economic recovery, like that experienced in Ireland from 2014 to 2018. Using repeated cross-sectional survey data unique to Ireland, this work captures change in attitudes towards immigrants during the pre-crisis and late-austerity periods. Moreover, this research evaluates the importance placed on two immigrant attributes intimately linked to the labour market — education and skills. We provide evidence of an emergence of more moderate views of immigration during the recovery period, but only in the perceived importance of educational qualifications. Perception of skills remains notably unchanged. Of note, both attributes remain more important in the public eye relative to before the economic crisis. In other words, short-term economic recovery does not automatically translate into a more welcoming reception. We confirm that crises and periods of austerity erode public perception of newcomers, particularly when immigration is framed in terms of skill-based economic contribution. However, this work reveals some of the scars of a rapid and deep economic downturn alter the context of reception in a durable way, which remains notably resistant to short-term recovery.

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Revisiting the role of education in attitudes toward immigration in different contexts in Europe

Umansky,

Weber,

Lutz

2025

Genus

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Among the individual determinants of attitudes toward immigration, the liberalising role of education is well known—those with higher levels of education tend to be more in favour of immigration. However, recent socioeconomic changes and idiosyncratic differences between European countries prompt us to reassess the role of education, given these contextual differences. Does it still apply, and is it universal? Moreover, does this relationship apply to both cultural and economic attitudes toward immigration? Using data from the European Social Survey, we analyse the role of education and socioeconomic changes in shaping economic and cultural attitudes toward immigration in 15 European countries over 16 years using a hierarchical model with cross-classified random effects. In our analysis, we distinguish between Eastern European and non-Eastern European countries. Our results indicate a robust positive and significant association between higher levels of education and more tolerant attitudes toward immigration in both aspects. However, they also reveal that the strength of this relationship varies between the two attitudes by context and region. For example, higher migrant inflow rates attenuate education’s liberalising and empowering role in shaping cultural attitudes in non-Eastern European countries but are not significant in Eastern European countries. Thus, our findings contribute to the literature examining the role of context in the established relationship between education and immigration attitudes while providing insights into regional differences.

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Public Opinion on Immigration: Has the Recession Changed Minds?

Cited by 4 publications

References 44 publications

Partisanship, Trump favorability, and changes in support for trade

Partisanship, Trump favorability, and changes in support for trade

Austerity, Short-term Economic Recovery and Public Perception of Immigration in Ireland

Revisiting the role of education in attitudes toward immigration in different contexts in Europe

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