Do Employers Support Immigration?

Abstract:     
This association study examines whether or not employers are more likely to support immigration than employees, using Round 1 of the European Social Survey. We focus on the labor-market impact of immigration in the host country because it is likely to affect employers and employees differently. Namely, employers may benefit when workers are negatively affected in the labor market. We find evidence to suggest that employers are more likely to be pro-immigration than employees, provided that immigrants are thought to compete with employees who are already in the country. Or else, when immigrants are thought to compete with employers rather than employees, employers are more likely to be anti-immigration than employees.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 32

Keywords: immigration, opinion, preference, employer, EU, ESS

JEL Classification: F22, J15, J21, J23, J71

working papers series