Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/128390 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 5680
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
With the rise of the far-right parties in the European parliamentary elections, concerns over immigration and national identity have again come into the limelight. In this paper, we document the empirical relationships between immigration, native concerns over the economic and cultural impact of immigration, and the rise of rightwing political parties in Europe. Empirical analysis first establishes the critical and distinct roles played by economic and cultural concerns over immigration in determining citizen’s rightward ideology and voting for right-wing parties. Second, we investigate the determinants of economic and cultural concerns over immigration, finding strong and consistent evidence for the salience hypothesis, which suggests that immigrant share of a country’s population shapes citizen concerns over immigration. Thereafter, we document the roles of macro-level economic and cultural channels in determining the strength of salience effects. Finally, we investigate how the characteristics of the immigrant population affect native concerns over immigration.
Subjects: 
group threat hypothesis
attitudes toward immigrants
cultural threat
public opinion
immigration policy
and right-wing politics
JEL: 
D72
F22
Z13
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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