South-South Immigration and Redistribution Preferences: Evidence from Colombia

Research on the effects of immigration on redistribution preferences mostly focus on Western countries and neglect the South-South contexts. However, we argue that immigration shocks may have different effects in South-South regions. On the one hand, the effect should be more muted due to the minimal cultural differences and the limited development of the welfare state. On the other hand, the impact might be even larger due to high inequality and scarce resources. To investigate this, we follow a two-fold strategy. First, we exploit the 2015 Venezuelan immigration shock in Colombia using a difference-in-differences strategy complemented with an instrumental variable, finding null-to-positive effects. Secondly, a survey experiment reveals that priming citizens on immigration has positive effects on social spending preferences. We attribute this to deservingness considerations. These results challenge some prevailing theories and suggest that increased immigration does not necessarily reduce redistribution preferences in South-South contexts.