Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/161909 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 6470
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
We develop and empirically test a theory concerning individual beliefs about whether immigrants should culturally assimilate into the host society or preserve their own cultural norms. We argue that when national identity is a source of intrinsic utility, the longevity of national identity influences a national identity’s perceived resilience to an ostensible immigrant threat and, thus, affects individuals’ beliefs about the need for immigrants’ cultural assimilation. Empirical evidence based on data from countries of wider Europe supports our theory. An expert survey-based measure of the longevity of national identity, first, exhibits a robustly negative effect on the strength of individual preferences in favor of immigrants’ cultural assimilation and, second, is an important contextual moderating variable that shapes the effect of individual-level characteristics on their beliefs. Thus, individual beliefs about the necessity of immigrants’ cultural assimilation versus accommodation of cultural diversity reflect a historically-rooted sense of national identity.
Subjects: 
cultural assimilation
immigrants
individual beliefs
national identity
longevity
JEL: 
Z13
J18
D72
P51
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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