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Welsch, H. Utilitarian and Ideological Determinants of Attitudes towards Immigration: Germany Before and After the “Migration Crisis”. Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch, 141(3), 215-242. https://doi.org/10.3790/schm.141.3.215
Welsch, Heinz "Utilitarian and Ideological Determinants of Attitudes towards Immigration: Germany Before and After the “Migration Crisis”" Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch 141.3, 2021, 215-242. https://doi.org/10.3790/schm.141.3.215
Welsch, Heinz (2021): Utilitarian and Ideological Determinants of Attitudes towards Immigration: Germany Before and After the “Migration Crisis”, in: Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch, vol. 141, iss. 3, 215-242, [online] https://doi.org/10.3790/schm.141.3.215
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Utilitarian and Ideological Determinants of Attitudes towards Immigration: Germany Before and After the “Migration Crisis”

Welsch, Heinz

Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch, Vol. 141 (2021), Iss. 3 : pp. 215–242

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Article Details

Publisher Name
Duncker & Humblot
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3790/schm.141.3.215
Language
English
Pages
28
Keywords

Author Details

Heinz Welsch, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Ammerländer Heerstraße 114 – 118, Oldenburg 26129, Germany.

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Abstract

Explanations of attitudes towards immigration include those that take a utilitarian perspective, focusing on immigration’s real-world impacts, and others that look at immigration attitudes from the point of view of ideological affiliation. Focusing on the German “migration crisis” as a case study, this paper seeks to disentangle the roles of these types of explanation, placing an emphasis on possible connections between them. Specifically, the paper studies whether and to what extent perceptions of immigration impacts are related to people’s ideological position through identity-protective cognition, implying an indirect channel through which ideology may shape attitudes toward immigration policies. Using data for 2014 – 2018, the paper finds that attitudes toward immigration were more strongly related to immigration’s perceived economic and cultural impacts than to ideological position, even accounting for dependence of perceptions on ideology. Ideology-dependence of impact perceptions existed with respect to both economic and cultural impacts but was stronger with respect to the latter than the former. After the migration crisis, perceptions of economic impacts became less important in shaping immigration attitudes relative to perceptions of cultural impacts, and the latter became more ideology-dependent.

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Utilitarian and Ideological Determinants of Attitudestowards Immigration: Germany Before and Afterthe “Migration Crisis”* 1
Abstract 1
1. Introduction 1
2. Background and Literature 3
2.1 The German “Migration Crisis” 3
2.2 Conceptual Background 4
2.3 Existing Evidence on Sources of Immigration Attitudes 5
2.4 Identity-Protective Cognition 6
2.5 Guiding Assumptions 7
3. Data and Descriptive Background 7
3.1 Data Sources and Definition of Variables 7
3.2 Sample Characteristics 9
4. Analytical Framework and Results 11
4.1 Model and Empirical Approach 11
4.2 Main Estimation Results 13
4.3 Alternative Ideology Indicator 16
4.4. Summary of Main Empirical Findings 19
5. Discussion and Conclusions 21
References 23

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