Antiglobalization sentiment: Exposure and immobility

Abstract

Individuals with heightened labor market insecurity express more protectionist, xenophobic, and isolationist sentiment. We construct a novel measure of labor market insecurity that combines an individual's industry-based exposure to import competition with an occupation-based measure of job immobility. Immobility captures the similarity of an individual's job to others in the economy, weighted by their prevalence. The holder of a job that is dissimilar to others in the industry or in the state experiences more anxiety regarding their labor market prospects in the face of a globalization shock, and is more likely to express antiglobalization sentiment.