How migrating overseas shapes political preferences: evidence from a field experiment

Gaikwad, Nikhar, Hanson, Kolby and Toth, Aliz ORCID: 0000-0002-1779-1553 (2025) How migrating overseas shapes political preferences: evidence from a field experiment. International Organization. ISSN 0020-8183 (In Press)

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Abstract

Scholarship on cross-border migration and welfare state politics has focused primarily on native-born individuals’ attitudes. How does migration affect the redistribution preferences of migrants, key constituencies in host and home countries? We argue that migration causes migrants to adopt more fiscally-conservative attitudes, driven not only by economic gains but also by psychological shifts toward self-reliance and beliefs in the prospect of upward mobility. We present results from a randomized controlled trial to facilitate labor migration from India to the Middle East. The intervention prompted high rates of cross-border migration and significantly reduced support for taxation and redistribution among migrants. By contrast, left-behind family members did not become more fiscally conservative despite similarly experiencing economic gains. While migrants became economically confident and self-reliant, family members grew increasingly dependent on remittances. Our results demonstrate that globalization has diverging impacts on welfare state preferences depending on the pathways by which it generates economic opportunity.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Government
Subjects:	J Political Science J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration
Date Deposited:	27 Aug 2025 23:10
Last Modified:	27 Aug 2025 23:10
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/129291

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