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Preferences Over Foreign Migration

Testing Existing Explanations in the Gulf

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2022

Erin A. York Open the ORCID record for Erin A. York [Opens in a new window]
Erin A. York*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
*
E-mail: erin.a.york@vanderbilt.edu
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Abstract

Do existing theories regarding the impact of foreign migration explain preferences in non-oecd countries? The author adapts and applies explanations for opposition to migration in the Arabian Gulf, a significant region in global migration today, using a survey experiment implemented in Qatar. The results offer a rare validation of predictions from the labor market competition model, demonstrating that individual employment circumstances are important preference determinants. Additionally, while OECD citizens prefer high-skilled migrants, Qataris are indifferent about blue- versus white-collar workers. Mediation analysis suggests that this null effect is the result of competing cultural and economic concerns over the effect of differing classes of migrants on economic and social welfare. The novel context provides a critical test case of the labor market hypothesis and offers insight into how migration preferences in the Global South differ from the Western experience.

Keywords

comparative political economylabor migrationMiddle Eastmigration preferences
Type
Research Article
Information
World Politics , Volume 74 , Issue 3 , July 2022 , pp. 443 - 475
Copyright
Copyright © 2022 Trustees of Princeton University

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