The Fear of Immigration- Its Roots and Underlying Dynamics in East Germany from a Socio-Economic Perspective

Abstract: The topic of immigration and its management is very controversial and highly discussed. Hence, it continues to have a huge impact on the today’s societies and the political climate. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of the following socio-economic factors: satisfaction, security and dynamics regarding the fear of immigration in East Germany. The main goal is to investigate the differences depending in socio-economic backgrounds. Aside from the analyses of the overall impact of the factors, the study is concerned with the impact of macroeconomic shocks. The analyzed macroeconomic shocks are the global financial crisis and the introduction of the minimum wage. The objects of interest are analyzed by applying a panel logistic regression design. The data for this study is obtained from the Socio-Economic Panel. Three main conclusions regarding the fear of immigration can be drawn from this study. First, individuals from higher classes within the used data set are on average more likely to fear immigration. Second, the extent to which people fear immigration fluctuates more for people from lower classes and is more vulnerable to external economic shocks and changes. Third, the improvement of the socio-economic situation through the introduction of the minimum wage shows a statistically negative impact on the fear of immigration. In contrast, the financial crisis shows a statistically positive effect. It can therefore be concluded that policy implications with the aim to increase equality and to improve economic endowment, as well as economic stability could help to counter the refuse of minority groups.