The Journal of Comparative Politics has recently accepted the manuscript “What Motivates You? The Relationship between Preferences for Redistribution and Attitudes towards Immigration” (co-authored with Robert Klemmensen) for publication. Here is the abstract:
The tension between immigration and redistribution has attracted increased attention in recent years. Many authors argue, based on economic self-interest theory, that there is a negative relationship between support for redistribution and preferred levels of immigration. Although we acknowledge the role of economic self-interest, we argue that there is in fact a multitude of motivations that moderate the relationship between preferences for redistribution and attitudes towards immigration. Extending a model of preferences for immigration, we show empirically that self-interested and strongly reciprocal individuals experience a tension between immigration and redistribution, while egalitarians do not experience this tension. Humanitarians express a general willingness to help those who are worse off, immigrants included, but this motivation does not affect their preferences for redistribution.
Patrick Emmenegger 