Welfare chauvinism among co-ethnics: Evidence from a conjoint experiment in South Korea

Abstract

This paper asks whether welfare chauvinism applies to co-ethnic migrants. Existing research on welfare chauvinism, the view that welfare provision should be restricted to native-born citizens and that migrants should be excluded from provision, has largely focused on ethnic difference as a main motivation, but little attention is given to whether native-born citizens discriminate among co-ethnics. Using a choice-based conjoint experiment and various framing interventions, this paper considers whether South Koreans discriminate against co-ethnic migrants in providing social housing. It also considers whether public cost and recipient contribution requirements affect discrimination. We find that co-ethnics are subject to welfare chauvinism, with applicants from more developed and culturally similar origins more preferred, but we do not find that the cost structure motivates discrimination based on origins. Accordingly, this paper expands the literature on migration and welfare states to better consider non-Western societies with high levels of co-ethnic migration.