Replication Data for: How Immigration Policies Sustain Authoritarian Regimes: A Case of Saudi Arabia

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has been undergoing significant political reforms amid a society that relies heavily on migrant labor. The radical reforms implemented by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Muhammad bin Salman, commonly referred to as MbS, have markedly reshaped the traditional Saudi Arabian society, garnering considerable support, particularly among the younger generation. Nevertheless, many individuals may experience bewilderment in response to the rapid social transformation. This study examines the relationship between the preference among citizens for an economic structure underpinned by immigrant labor and their acceptance of the prime minister's political and social reforms. Despite the large immigrant population in Saudi Arabia, immigration is notably absent as a political issue; thus, this study formulates several hypotheses proposing that immigration serves not as a catalyst for political discontent but as a mechanism leveraged to construct an immigrant ethnocracy that stabilizes the authoritarian rule of MbS. To test these hypotheses, we estimate the Saudi public's support for MbS based on findings from our original survey research. We classify immigration policy preferences into three distinct societal groups: immigrant ethnocracy beneficiaries, traditional kinship-dependent groups that do not benefit from this arrangement, and socially vulnerable, left-behind groups. The results indicate that the kinship-dependent group, which is rooted in traditional values, exhibits the lowest support for MbS, while both the beneficiaries of immigrant ethnocracy and the vulnerable low-status job group demonstrate similarly high support. However, the three groups show distinct attitudes toward immigration policy, suggesting that immigrant ethnocracy has varied impacts on different social groups in Saudi Arabia.