Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T17:35:36.576Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

‘They Take Our Houses’: Benefit Competition and the Erosion of Support for Immigrants' Social Rights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2020

Gerda Hooijer Open the ORCID record for Gerda Hooijer [Opens in a new window]
Gerda Hooijer*
Affiliation:
Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance, Princeton University
*
E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Does benefit competition affect voters' support for immigrants' social rights? While scholars in political economy expect that benefit competition lowers support among the poor, the evidence is limited. This seems to be largely due to the reliance on highly aggregated analyses and the neglect of the institutional context in which individuals form their preferences. This article argues that lower-income voters are more likely to reduce their support due to competition when benefit eligibility depends on income. Using individual-level panel data from the Netherlands and a novel way to measure benefit competition, the study shows that lower-middle-income voters become less supportive of immigrants' social rights when more social housing in their municipality is allocated to refugees. By contrast, competition does not reduce support among the rich or the very poor. The findings suggest that benefit competition can erode support for immigrants' social rights and influence electoral politics.

Keywords

immigrants' social rightsimmigrationattitudesbenefit competitionsocial housing
Type
Article
Information
British Journal of Political Science , Volume 51 , Issue 4 , October 2021 , pp. 1381 - 1401
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aedes (2017) Feiten en Cijfers [Facts and Figures]. Available from https://www.aedes.nl/feiten-en-cijfers/woning.html (accessed 28 July 2017).Google Scholar
Alesina, A and Glaeser, EL (2004) Fighting Poverty in the US and Europe: A World of Difference. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/0199267669.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allport, GW (1954) The Nature of Prejudice. Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Alt, J and Iversen, T (2017) Inequality, labor market segmentation, and preferences for redistribution. American Journal of Political Science 61(1), 21–36.10.1111/ajps.12264CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnoldus, M, Dukes, T and Musterd, S (2003) Dispersal policies in the Netherlands. In Robinson, V, Andersson, R and Musterd, S (eds), Spreading the “Burden”? A Review of Policies to Disperse Asylum Seekers and Refugees. Bristol: Policy Press, pp. 25–64.Google Scholar
Beramendi, P and Rehm, P (2016) Who gives, who gains? Progressivity and preferences. Comparative Political Studies 49(4), 529–563.10.1177/0010414015617961CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cavaillé, C and Ferwerda, J (2018) How Distributional Conflict over Public Spending Drives Support for Anti-Immigrant Parties. Working Paper. Washington, DC: Georgetown University.Google Scholar
Cavaillé, C and Trump, K-T (2015) The two facets of social policy preferences. The Journal of Politics 77(1), 146–160.10.1086/678312CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dancygier, R (2010) Immigration and Conflict in Europe. New York: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511762734CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Degen, D, Kuhn, T and van der Brug, W (2019) Granting immigrants access to social benefits? How self-interest influences support for welfare state restrictiveness. Journal of European Social Policy 29(2), 148–165.10.1177/0958928718781293CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Facchini, G and Mayda, AM (2009) Does the welfare state affect individual attitudes toward immigrants? Evidence across countries. Review of Economics and Statistics 91(2), 295–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finseraas, H (2012) Poverty, ethnic minorities among the poor, and preferences for redistribution in European regions. Journal of European Social Policy 22(2), 164–180.10.1177/0958928711433655CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freeman, GP (1986) Migration and the political economy of the welfare state. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 485, 51–63.10.1177/0002716286485001005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gingrich, J and Ansell, B (2012) Preferences in context: micro preferences, macro contexts, and the demand for social policy. Comparative Political Studies 45(12), 1624–1654.10.1177/0010414012463904CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Habyarimana, J et al. (2007) Why does ethnic diversity undermine public goods provision? American Political Science Review 101(4), 709–725.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haffner, M et al. (2009) Bridging the Gap between Social and Market Rented Housing in Six European Countries? Amsterdam: IOS Press.Google Scholar
Hanson, GH, Scheve, K and Slaughter, MJ (2007) Public finance and individual preferences over globalization strategies. Economics and Politics 19(1), 1–33.10.1111/j.1468-0343.2007.00300.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooijer, G (2020) “Replication Data for: “They Take Our Houses”: Benefit Competition and the Erosion of Support for Immigrants' Social Rights”, https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/9TSJTY, Harvard Dataverse, V1, UNF:6:9PGr9aJgmbZmdF7U+pVj8g== [fileUNF]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, DS and Waldron, J (1988) Citizenship, social citizenship and the defence of welfare provision. British Journal of Political Science 18(4), 415–443.10.1017/S0007123400005202CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitschelt, H and (in collaboration with Anthony J. McGann) (1995) The Radical Right in Western Europe. A Comparative Analysis. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Kromhout, S and Zeelenberg, S (2014) Sturen op Inkomen. Toewijzingscriteria in de Woonruimteverdeling [Steering on Income. Allocation Criteria in Housing Allocations]. Amsterdam: RIGO Research en Advies.Google Scholar
Maxwell, R (2019) Cosmopolitan immigration attitudes in large European cities: contextual or compositional effects? American Political Science Review 113(2), 456–474.10.1017/S0003055418000898CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mewes, J and Mau, S (2012) Unraveling working-class welfare chauvinism. In Svallfors, S (ed.), Contested Welfare States: Welfare Attitudes in Europe. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, pp. 119–157.Google Scholar
Ministry of Finance (2018) Rijksbegrotingen [National Budgets]. Available from http://rijksbegroting.nl/ (accessed 6 November 2018).Google Scholar
Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (2016) Wonen in Beweging. De Resultaten van het WoonOnderzoek Nederland 2015 [Living on the Move. Results from the 2015 Housing Survey of the Netherlands]. Available from https://www.woononderzoek.nl/documenten/Rapporten (Accessed 2 July 2017).Google Scholar
Money, J (1997) No vacancy: the political geography of immigration control in advanced industrial countries. International Organization 51(4), 685–720.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Newman, BJ, et al. (2015) Are citizens ‘receiving the treatment’? Assessing a key link in contextual theories of public opinion and political behavior. Political Psychology 36(1), 123–131.10.1111/pops.12069CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Grady, T (2019) How do economic circumstances determine preferences? Evidence from long-run panel data. British Journal of Political Science 49(4), 1381–1406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2018) Affordable Housing Database. Available from http://www.oecd.org/social/affordable-housing-database.htm (accessed 24 May 2018).Google Scholar
Party for Freedom (PVV) (2012) Hún Brussel, Óns Nederland. Verkiezingsprogramma 2012–2017 [Their Brussels, Our Netherlands. Election Program 2012-2017]. Available from https://www.pvv.nl/images/stories/verkiezingen2012/VerkiezingsProgramma-PVV-2012-final-web.pdf (accessed 5 June 2017).Google Scholar
Reeskens, T and van Oorschot, W (2012) Disentangling the ‘new liberal dilemma’: on the relation between general welfare redistribution preferences and welfare chauvinism. International Journal of Comparative Sociology 53(2), 120–139.10.1177/0020715212451987CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rueda, D (2018) Food comes first, then morals: redistribution preferences, parochial altruism and immigration in Western Europe. The Journal of Politics 80(1), 225–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rydgren, J (2007) The sociology of the radical right. Annual Review of Sociology 33(1), 241–262.10.1146/annurev.soc.33.040406.131752CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rydgren, J and Ruth, P (2011) Voting for the radical right in Swedish municipalities: social marginality and ethnic competition? Scandinavian Political Studies 34(3), 202–225.10.1111/j.1467-9477.2011.00269.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sainsbury, D (2012) Welfare States and Immigrant Rights. The Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199654772.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schumacher, G and van Kersbergen, K (2016) Do mainstream parties adapt to the welfare chauvinism of populist parties? Party Politics 22(3), 300–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sides, J and Citrin, J (2007) European opinion about immigration: the role of identities, interests and information. British Journal of Political Science 37(3), 477–504.10.1017/S0007123407000257CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smits van Waesberghe, E and Razenberg, I (2016) De Huisvesting van Vergunninghouders. Een Onderzoek naar het Realiseren van de Gemeentelijke Taakstelling en de Rol van Versnellingsarrangementen. Utrecht, NL: Verwey-Jonker Instituut.Google Scholar
Statistics Netherlands (2016 November 21) Afbakening Generaties met Migratieachtergrond [Demarcation of Generations with a Migrant Background]. Available from https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/achtergrond/2016/47/afbakening-generaties-met-migratieachtergrond (accessed 14 July 2017).Google Scholar
Statistics Netherlands (2018) Statline [online database]. Available from http://statline.cbs.nl/statweb/ (accessed 3 March 2018).Google Scholar
van der Waal, J, et al. (2010) ’Some are more equal than others’: economic egalitarianism and welfare chauvinism in the Netherlands. Journal of European Social Policy 20(5), 350–363.10.1177/0958928710374376CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wijkhuis, L, et al. (2011) Pardon? Evaluatie van de Regeling Afwikkeling Nalatenschap Oude Vreemdelingenwet [Evaluation of the Regulation for the Settlement of the Legacy of the Old Aliens Act]. The Hague, NL: Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek- en Documentatiecentrum.Google Scholar
Wissink, J and Lijzenga, J (2014) Huisvesting van Vergunninghouders. Patronen in Migratie [Housing Refugees. Patterns in Migration]. Arnhem, NL: Companen.Google Scholar
Wooldridge, JM (2002) Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
WoonOnderzoek. [Housing Survey] (2015) CitaVista. Available from https://www.woononderzoek.nl/jive (accessed 11 April 2018).Google Scholar
Supplementary material: Link

Hooijer Dataset

Dataset

https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/9TSJTY
Link
Supplementary material: PDF

Hooijer supplementary material

Hooijer supplementary material

Download Hooijer supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 1.2 MB