Replication Data for: Regional Labor Markets, Residential Mobility, and Anti-Immigration Sentiment

Since the turn of the 21st century, subnational regions have become increasingly polarized with regards to anti-immigration attitudes. However, the reasons behind geographical changes over time are unclear. We argue that regional labor market risks are a key and overlooked factor driving residential choices and subsequent attitudinal change. We rely on georeferenced panel data from the GSOEP in combination with rich regional labor market data from the German microcensus. Our findings confirm that prospects of economic risk reduction drive moving decisions and subsequently reduce anti-immigration sentiment, especially among workers with transferable skills. This has decisive macro-level implications: regions receiving a large share of risk-reducing movers over time show lower levels of anti-immigration sentiment. Our contribution implies that economic motivations matter for residential choices beyond cultural sorting, individual attitudes adjust to the conditions of destination, and geographical patterns are mostly driven by booming regions becoming ever more liberal.

自21世纪初以来，各国次国家区域在反移民态度层面的极化趋势愈发显著。然而，随时间推移的地域态度变迁背后的驱动因素仍不明朗。我们提出，区域劳动力市场风险是推动居民迁徙选择及后续态度转变的关键且长期被忽视的因素。本研究依托GSOEP（德国社会经济面板）的地理参照面板数据，结合德国微型人口普查（German Microcensus）提供的丰富区域劳动力市场数据。研究结果证实，经济风险降低的预期会推动居民作出迁徙决策，并进而弱化其反移民情绪，这一效应在具备可迁移技能的劳动者群体中尤为显著。该结论具有重要的宏观层面启示：长期接收大量风险规避型迁徙者的区域，其反移民情绪的整体水平会更低。本研究的学术贡献表明：除文化筛选效应外，经济动机同样对居民迁徙选择产生重要影响；个体态度会根据迁入地的环境作出调整；而地域态度格局的形成，主要源于繁荣区域愈发趋向开放包容。