DP6351 Why Are People More Pro-trade Than Pro-migration?

Author(s):	Anna Maria Mayda
Publication Date:	June 2007
Keyword(s):	Immigration Attitudes, Political Economy, Trade Attitudes
JEL(s):	F1, F22, J61
Programme Areas:	Labour Economics, International Trade and Regional Economics
Link to this Page:	cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=6351

I analyze individual attitudes towards trade and immigration in comparative terms. I find that individuals are on average more pro-trade than pro-immigration across several countries. I identify a key source of this difference: the cleavage in trade preferences, absent in immigration attitudes, between individuals working in traded as opposed to non-traded sectors.