International Labor Mobility and the Variety of Democratic Political Institutions Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • AbstractUsing a new measure of immigration policy and examining thirty-six advanced industrial countries between 1996 and 2012, we seek to explain systematically the variation in external labor openness among the more advanced democracies as primary destination countries, using a model where the government feels political pressure through both a voter/electoral channel and a special-interests channel. With voters primarily pressing for immigration restrictions and special interest pressure aimed at immigration openness, democratic political institutionslike a parliamentary system and proportional representation voting with greater district magnitude that make governments more responsive to voters and less responsive to special interestsshould be associated with less change toward a more open official immigration policy. Our statistical evidence accords with this expectation.

published proceedings

  • International Organization

author list (cited authors)

  • Bearce, D. H., & Hart, A. F.

citation count

  • 11

complete list of authors

  • Bearce, David H||Hart, Andrew F

publication date

  • 2017