Replication Data for: Preferences over Foreign Migration: Testing Existing Explanations in the Gulf

Do existing theories regarding the impact of foreign migration explain preferences in non-OECD countries? I adapt and apply explanations for opposition to migration in the Arabian Gulf, a hugely significant region in global migration today, using a survey experiment implemented in Qatar. The results offer a rare validation of predictions from the labor market competition model, demonstrating that individual employment circumstances are important preference determinants. Additionally, while OECD citizens prefer high-skilled migrants, Qataris are indifferent between white and blue-collar workers. Mediation analysis suggests that this null effect is the result of competing cultural and economic concerns over the impact of differing classes of migrants on economic and social welfare. The novel context provides a critical test case of the labor market hypothesis and offers insight into how migration preferences in the Global South differ from the Western experience.