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Economic Strain, Education and Attitudes towards Foreigners in the E uropean Union
Author(s) -
Gang Ira N.,
RiveraBatiz Francisco L.,
Yun MyengSu
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
review of international economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.513
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1467-9396
pISSN - 0965-7576
DOI - 10.1111/roie.12029
Subject(s) - prejudice (legal term) , immigration , demographic economics , economics , educational attainment , political science , economic growth , law
Surveys carried out by the E urobarometer survey series show a sharp increase in the negative attitudes of E uropean citizens towards foreigners between 1988 and 2003, but a noticeable reversal of this trend between 2003 and 2008. This paper provides a statistical analysis of the determinants of attitudes towards foreigners and analyzes the factors associated with changes in anti‐foreigner sentiment among E uropean citizens. The paper concludes that while rising racial prejudice accounts for a substantial portion of the trend in anti‐foreigner sentiment, economic conditions also matter, with economic strain leading to more negative attitudes. At the same time, educational attainment is shown to be a strong antidote to anti‐foreigner attitudes. Both rising average schooling and more positive attitudes towards foreigners by the highly educated have led to a reversal of the climbing anti‐immigrant sentiments in E urope. The paper discusses policy implications and the potential effects of the E uropean economic collapse since 2008.