Andrea Tesei - The International Transmission of Democratic Values: Evidence from African Migration to Europe

Seminar
This event has now finished.
  • Date and time: Wednesday 6 November 2024, 1pm to 2pm
  • Location: In-person only
    AEW106 , Alcuin East Wing, Campus West, University of York (Map)
  • Audience: Open to staff, students
  • Admission: Free admission, booking not required

Event details

Author: Andrea Tesei (QMUL)

Abstract:  This paper investigates the effect of rising anti-immigrant sentiment in European democratic host countries on support for democracy in African migrants’ origin communities. We propose a novel methodology to estimate migration stocks from sub-national areas of origin to any possible country in the world based on Google trends data. We use these data alongside measures of anti-immigrant sentiment at destination to study origin communities exposure to anti-immigrant sentiment. Consistent with a model of Bayesian learning, we show that exposure to greater antiimmigrant sentiment led to a deterioration in support for democracy among African citizens and that the effect is concentrated in non-democratic countries. We conclude that rising anti-immigrant sentiment in Western democracies has the potential to harm democratic progress in Africa.

Host: Matthias Flueckiger (York)