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Publications
Publications
Media Coverage of Immigration and the Polarization of Attitudes. Schneider-Strawczynski, S., and Valette, J. (2025). American Economic Journal: Applied Economics , 17(1): 337-368.
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics (CNRS: 1/ HCERES: A).
with Sarah Schneider-Strawczynski.
Abstract: This paper investigates the effect of media coverage on immigration attitudes. It combines data on immigration coverage in French television with individual panel data from 2013 to 2017 that records respondents’ preferred television channel and attitudes toward immigration. The analysis focuses on within-individual variations over time, addressing ideological self-selection into channels. We find that increased coverage of immigration polarizes attitudes, with initially moderate individuals becoming more likely to report extremely positive and negative attitudes. This polarization is mainly driven by an increase in the salience of immigration, which reactivates preexisting prejudices, rather than persuasion effects from biased news consumption.
How to cite : Schneider-Strawczynski, S., and Valette, J. (2025). Media Coverage of Immigration and the Polarization of Attitudes. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 17(1): 337-368.
The Usual Suspects. Offenders' Origin, Media Reporting and Natives' Attitudes Towards Immigration. Keita, S., Renault, T., and Valette, J. (2024). The Economic Journal, 134(657): 322-362.
The Economic Journal (CNRS: 1/ HCERES: A).
with Sekou Keita , and Thomas Renault.
Abstract: This paper analyses whether the systematic disclosure of criminals’ origins in the press affects natives’ attitudes towards immigration. It takes advantage of the unilateral change in reporting policy announced by the German newspaper Sächsische Zeitung in July, 2016. Combining individual-level panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel from 2014 to 2018 with 402,819 crime-related articles in German newspapers and those newspapers’ market shares, we find that systematically mentioning the origins of criminals increases the relative salience of natives’ criminality and reduces natives’ concerns about immigration, breaking the implicit link between immigration and crime.
How to cite : Keita, S., Renault, T., and Valette, J. (2024). The Usual Suspects. Offenders' Origin, Media Reporting and Natives' Attitudes Towards Immigration. The Economic Journal, 134(657): 322-362.
Another Brick in the Wall. Immigration and Electoral Preferences: Direct Evidence from State Ballots. Bargain, O., Stéphane, V., and Valette, J. (2022). Review of International Economics 30(5): 1452-1477.
Review of International Economics (CNRS: 2/ HCERES: A). Online Appendix.
with Olivier Bargain, and Victor Stéphane.
Abstract: Using information on actual ballots rather than survey data, we investigate the impact of immigration on both electoral outcomes and immigrant-related motives underlying political preferences. We take advantage of 94 votes, namely 54 policy propositions and 40 elections for candidates, that took place in Californian general elections between 2010 and 2018. We first analyze how the share of immigrants at the census tract level affects electoral outcomes. We find that a rise in immigration is associated with a decrease in people’s support for the Democratic party and for liberal measures. Using proposition topics, we show that this effect is driven by policies pertaining to redistribution, public good provision, and justice/crime, while other propositions, less directly related to immigration are not impacted. The effect is stronger when immigrants are less assimilated and originate from poor and culturally distant countries.
How to cite : Bargain, O., Stéphane, V., and Valette, J. (2022) Another Brick in the Wall. Immigration and Electoral Preferences: Direct Evidence from State Ballots. Review of International Economics, 30(5): 1452-1477.
Birthplace Diversity and Economic Growth: Evidence from the US States in the Post-World War II Period. Docquier, F., Turati, R., Valette, J. and Vasilakis, C. (2020). Journal of Economic Geography, 20(2): 321-354.
Journal of Economic Geography (CNRS: 1/ HCERES: A). Online Appendix
with Frédéric Docquier, Riccardo Turati and Chrysovalantis Vasilakis.
This paper empirically revisits the impact of birthplace diversity on economic growth. We use panel data on US states over the 1960-2010 period. This rich data set allows us to better deal with endogeneity issues and to conduct a large set of robustness checks. Our results suggest that diversity among college-educated immigrants positively affects economic growth. We provide converging evidence pointing at the existence of skill complementarities between workers trained in different countries. These synergies result in better labor market outcomes for native workers and in higher productivity in the R&D sector. The gains from diversity are maximized when immigrants originate from economically or culturally distant countries (but not both), and when they acquired part of their secondary education abroad and their college education in the US. Overall, a 10% increase in high-skilled diversity raises GDP per capita by about 6%. On the contrary, low-skilled diversity has insignificant effects.
How to cite : Docquier, F., Turati, R., Valette, J. and Vasilakis, C. (2020) Birthplace Diversity and Economic Growth: Evidence from the US States in the Post-World War II Period. Journal of Economic Geography, 20(2): 321-354.
Natives' Attitudes and Immigrants' Unemployment Durations. Keita, S. & Valette, J. (2019). Demography, 56(3): 1023-1050.
Demography (CNRS: 1/ HCERES: A). Online Appendix
with Sekou Keita.
What are the factors which determine the performance of immigrants in a destination country labor market? Evidence in the literature suggests that discrimination may be a barrier to the economic assimilation of immigrants. However, depending on the country of origin, the level of discrimination an immigrant faces is heterogeneous. This paper investigates how the attitudes of natives affect the labor outcomes of immigrants in Germany. Using individual-level panel data from the German Socio Economic Panel from 1984 to 2014, we use survival analysis methods to model immigrants’ unemployment duration. We find that natives’ lower trust levels towards the citizens of a given country, measured using Eurobarometer surveys, positively influence the unemployment duration of immigrants from this country. We show that this result is not driven by origin-specific unobserved heterogeneity, and that it is robust to different specifications and alternative explanations. Our results highlight the fact that immigrants face different obstacles depending on their origin when it comes to integrating destination country labor markets.
How to cite : Keita, S. & Valette, J. (2019). Natives' Attitudes and Immigrants' Unemployment Durations. Demography, 56(3): 1023-1050.
Do Migrants Transfer Productive Knowledge Back to Their Origin Countries? Valette, J. (2018). The Journal of Development Studies, 54(9): 1637-1656.
The Journal of Development Studies (CNRS: 2/ HCERES: A). Online Appendix
This paper analyses whether international migrants contribute to increasing technological advances in developing countries by inducing a transfer of productive knowledge from developed countries back to migrants’ home countries. Using the Economic Complexity Index as a proxy for the amount of productive knowledge embedded in each countries and bilateral migrant stocks of 20 OECD destination countries, we show that international migration is a strong channel of technological transmission. Diasporas foster the local adoption of new technologies by connecting high technology countries with low ones, reducing the uncertainty surrounding their profitability. Our empirical results support the hypothesis that technological transfers are more likely to occur out of more technologically advanced destinations and when emigration rates are particularly high.
How to cite : Valette, J. (2018). Do Migrants Transfer Productive Knowledge Back to Their Origin Countries? The Journal of Development Studies, 54(9): 1637-1656.
Work in progress
Work in progress
Border Apprehensions and Hispanic Sentences in the US Federal Criminal Justice System [with Simone Bertoli and Morgane Laouenan]. IZA Working Paper.
Abstract: We provide evidence that Hispanic citizens receive significantly longer sentences in the Federal Criminal Justice System when there is an increase in the monthly number of illegal aliens apprehended along the southern border. Apprehensions increase the salience of Hispanic ethnic identity, which is associated with persistent negative stereotypes in the United States. The absence of any effect for Hispanic non-citizens is inconsistent with the alternative explanation that apprehensions could deteriorate judges’ attitude towards all Hispanic defendants, irrespective of their citizenship status. Our estimated effect is only at play for defendants without a heavy previous criminal record, and is larger for defendants whose age, gender, and level of education are close to the typical Hispanic immigrant.
R&R at The Journal of Law & Economics
Immigration, Identity Choices, and Cultural Heterogeneity [with Yasmine Elkhateeb and Riccardo Turati]. [Draft upon request].
How does immigration challenge the identities and cultural homogeneity of receiving societies? This paper investigates this question by analyzing the impact of immigration on cultural heterogeneity in Europe between 2004 and 2018. It combines regional cultural fractionalization indices derived from the European Social Survey with immigration shares from the European Labor Force Survey. The findings indicate that immigration increases the salience of birthplace along cultural lines and fosters a shift toward nativist identities and nationalism among the population. In response to the perceived challenge of cultural diversity, natives increasingly align their norms and values with those of the broader native-identified population.
Hard to Starboard? How Far-Right Success Shapes Mainstream Politics – Evidence from the Front National [with Anthony Edo, and Thomas Renault]. [Draft upon request].
How does the electoral success of the far-right affect the policy platforms of mainstream candidates? We answer this question by exploiting the political shock of the Front National creation in 1972 and its sudden electoral breakthrough in the 1980s. Through a comprehensive textual analysis of candidate manifestos in parliamentary elections from 1968 to 1997, we find that right-wing candidates respond to local far-right success by amplifying the salience of immigration in their manifestos, framing it more negatively, and linking it to issues such as crime and the welfare state. In contrast, the ideological positions of left candidates do not shift in response to far-right success. We show that the strategic adjustments of right-wing candidates focus exclusively on immigration and help mitigate electoral losses to far-right competitors.
Refugees' Integration Through Support and Mental Health Enhancement [with Alexandre Touw, Flore Gubert, and Marie-CarolineSaglio-Yatzimirsky]. AEARCTR-0016069.
This paper investigates the impact of interventions aimed at overcoming barriers that prevent refugees from accessing mental healthcare, which is widely recognized as a key determinant of their integration in host countries. Building on the French Ministry of Interior’s AGIR programme, which supports refugees in securing employment and housing, we randomly assign participants to four groups, each varying in how information and support regarding mental healthcare access is delivered. We examine whether: (i) discussions with peer-helpers reduce stigma and informational barriers compared to standard translated materials; (ii) a multilingual helpline that assists with appointment booking helps overcome institutional barriers; and (iii) access to mental healthcare improves employment and housing outcomes within the AGIR programme.
The impact of WWII on the Adoption of the French Language [with Léa Marchal and Elsa Poupelin].
Policy Brief and Book Chapter
Policy Brief and Book Chapter
Naturalisation, asile, régularisation : des leviers en faveur de l'intégration économique de immigrés (2025). Edo, Anthony et Valette, Jérôme. L'Économie mondiale 2026 (chapter 6), Repères Économie, La Découverte.
La couverture médiatique de l'immigration polarise les opinions (2024). Schneider-Strawczynski, Sarah et Valette, Jérôme. Lettre du CEPII N°448, Juillet, 2024. Link.
Immigration et délinquance : réalités et perceptions (2023). Arnaud Philippe et Jérôme Valette. Lettre du CEPII N°436, Avril, 2023. Link.
L’impact des médias sur les attitudes envers l’immigration (2021). Schneider-Strawczynski, Sarah & Valette, Jérôme in : Barbara Joannon, Audrey Lenoël, Hélène Thiollet & Perin Emel Yavuz (dir.), Dossier « Les migrations dans l’œil des médias : infox, influence et opinion », De facto, 30. Link.
Labour market discrimination: Immigrants who receive less trust remain unemployed longer (2020). Keita, Sekou & Valette, Jérôme, IAB-Kurzbericht, 10/2020, Nürnberg, 8 p. Link.
Media Coverage
Media Coverage
May, 2025: Le Monde. Tribune : La naturalisation accélère l’intégration économique des immigrés.
Mars, 2025: France Culture. Entendez-vous l'Eco? L’économie française manque-t-elle d’une véritable politique migratoire ?
Mars, 2025: Voxeurop. Migration and sexist or sexual violence: is there a correlation?
Mars, 2025: Voxeurop. There is no direct causal link between immigration and crime.
January, 2025: FranceInfo. En France, championne d'Europe des OQTF, plus de 93% de ces mesures d'éloignement concernent des étrangers sans histoire.
January 2025: France 2. Complément d'enquêtes. OQTF : quatre lettres qui divisent la France.
November, 2024: Le Monde. Tribune : Immigration : La nécéssité du discernement.
July, 2024: Le Monde. Immigration: plus les médias en parlent, plus les opinions se crispent.
June, 2024: France Culture. L’immigration au coeur de la campagne des législatives anticipées.
June, 2024 : La Croix. Européennes 2024 : Comment l’immigration s’est imposée comme thème numéro un.
June, 2024 : FranceInfo. Européennes 2024 : on a vérifié huit affirmations lors du débat entre les principaux candidats.
May, 2024: AFP Factuel. Immigration et délinquance: attention aux interprétations trompeuses des chiffres du ministère de l'Intérieur
December, 2023: Capital. L’immigration tire-t-elle vraiment les salaires vers le bas ?
December, 2023: BFMTV. A l’épreuve des faits. Interview sur le lien l’impact de l’immigration sur le marché du travail.
November, 2023: Alternatives Economiques. Entretient sur la loi immigration.
September, 2023: L'ADN. Au mot près: comment les médias influencent notre perception de l'immigration.
June, 2023: France Info TV. Immigration et délinquance : derrière les chiffres, la manipulation.
May, 2023: The Conversation. Pourquoi le lien entre immigration et délinquance est une illusion.
May, 2023: Le JDD. Immigration: pourquoi le lien avec la délinquance est-il une illusion.
April, 2023: Le Monde. Immigration les étrangers pas plus délinquants que les autres, selon une étude.
April, 2023: La Croix. Délinquance et immigration ne sont pas liées, selon une étude.
April, 2023 : L’Humanité. Migrations et délinquance, une bonne claque aux idées reçues.
April, 2023: Sud Ouest. L’immiration a t-elle un impact sur la délinquance ? Toutes les études réfutent cette idée.
February, 2023: Pour l’Eco. La loi immigration peut-elle faire reculer l’économie souterraine et combler la pénurie de talents.
July, 2022: Libération. Hôtellerie-restauration: la France facilite le recrutement en Tunisie via un dispositif qui pose question.
February, 2022: Le Monde. Travail des immigrés, l’hypocrisie française.
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