Document Type

Article

Language

eng

Format of Original

23 p.

Publication Date

9-2005

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Source Publication

Socio-Economic Review

Source ISSN

1475-1461

Abstract

Using the results of a national identity survey, we test the impact of religious affiliation on trade and immigration-policy preferences of US residents while controlling for individual level of skill, political ideology and other important demographic characteristics. Our results show that religion is an important determinant of international-policy preferences as individuals who are pre-Vatican II Catholic or members of a fundamentalist Protestant denomination are more likely to prefer policies that restrict imports and immigration. Religiosity, in contrast, has a separate effect of moderating attitudes towards immigration. In addition, we find evidence of denominational effects among African Americans in that members of fundamentalist denominations tend to favour policies that restrict imports while others do not, implying that statistical results commonly attributed to racial effects may actually be a religion effect.

Comments

Accepted version. Socio-Economic Review, Vol. 3, No. 3 (September 2005): 467-489. DOI. This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Socio-Economic Review following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available online at this DOI.

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