South-South Immigration and Redistribution Preferences: Evidence from Colombia

Original

South-South Immigration and Redistribution Preferences: Evidence from Colombia

Josep Serrano-Serrat, Ignacio Jurado

Abstract

abstract: Research on the effects of immigration on redistribution preferences mostly focuses on Western countries and neglects the Global South. The authors argue that immigration shocks may have different effects in South-South migration than they do in South-North contexts. On one hand, the effects should be more muted in the former due to minimal cultural differences and limited development of the welfare state. On the other hand, the impact might be larger due to high economic inequality and scarce resources. To investigate these differences, the authors follow a two-fold strategy. First, they exploit the 2015 Venezuelan immigration shock in Colombia using a difference-in-differences strategy, complemented by an instrumental variable. The authors find null-to-positive effects. Second, a survey experiment reveals that priming citizens on immigration has positive effects on citizens’ social spending preferences. The authors attribute this effect to deservingness considerations. These results challenge some prevailing theories and sug-gest that increased immigration does not necessarily reduce redistribution preferences in South-South contexts.