Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/227775 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Citation: 
[Journal:] Comparative Political Studies [ISSN:] 1552-3829 [Volume:] 54 [Issue:] 3-4 [Publisher:] Sage [Place:] Thousand Oaks, CA [Year:] 2021 [Pages:] 686-717
Publisher: 
Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA
Abstract: 
Does local exposure to refugees increase right-wing support? This paper studies a case uniquely suited to address this question: the allocation of refugees to the rural hinterlands of eastern Germany during the European refugee crisis. Similar to non-urban regions elsewhere, the area has had minimal previous exposure to foreigners, but distinctively leans towards the political right. Our data comprise electoral outcomes, and individual-level survey and behavioral measures. A policy allocating refugees following strict administrative rules and a matching procedure allow for causal identification. Our measurements confirm the presence of widespread anti-immigrant sentiments. However, these are unaffected by the presence of refugees in respondents’ hometowns: on average, we record null effects for all outcomes, which we interpret as supporting a sociotropic perspective on immigration attitudes. Masked by these overall null findings, we observe convergence: local exposure to refugees appears to have pulled both right- and left-leaning individuals more towards the center.
Subjects: 
right-wing support
refugees
Germany
immigration
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
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Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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