Labour market dualism and immigration policy preferences

What are the effects of labour market deregulation and increased immigration inflows on public attitudes towards immigration? Despite increased levels of dualism and free movement of labour in European countries over the last two decades, the effects of these policy developments are still unclear in the literature. This study argues that high concentrations of migrant workers in non-standard forms of employment decrease economic redistribution towards, and labour competition with, immigrants. Consequently, the politicisation of immigrant-native conflicts is paradoxically lower when immigration and labour market dualism cluster together at the occupational level. These claims are validated cross-nationally, and in a difference-in-differences setting analysing the impact of the 2005 German Immigration Act.