Immigrants' Intergenerational Mobility and Natives' Policy Preferences

Last registered on January 28, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Immigrants' Intergenerational Mobility and Natives' Policy Preferences
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0017721
Initial registration date
January 21, 2026

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
January 28, 2026, 6:55 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Matteo F. Ferroni
Affiliation
University of Missouri
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Javier Soria
PI Affiliation
Paris School of Economics
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PI Name
Hillel Rapoport
PI Affiliation
Paris School of Economics
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-01-20
End date
2026-12-31
Keywords
Other
Additional Keywords
Perceptions, Immigration, Intergenerational mobility, Redistribution, Survey, Online experiment
JEL code(s)
A13, C93, D71, D72, D83, F22, H23, J15, J38, J60, J68, P16
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We study how providing factual information about immigrants’ intergenerational mobility affects beliefs and policy preferences among native-born Americans. In an online survey experiment, respondents are randomly assigned to a control group receiving no information, to a first treatment providing benchmark statistics comparing immigrants’ and natives’ incomes, or to a second treatment that adds evidence on their children’s upward mobility for both natives and immigrants. We measure impacts on factual beliefs and misperceptions, perceived economic competition and social attitudes, and support for policies related to immigration, redistribution, and social inclusion. We then link respondents to administrative measures of local economic opportunity and immigrant exposure to benchmark stated beliefs against true local conditions and to assess whether the information is more or less “surprising” given respondents’ local environments.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Ferroni, Matteo F., Hillel Rapoport and Javier Soria. 2026. "Immigrants' Intergenerational Mobility and Natives' Policy Preferences." AEA RCT Registry. January 28. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17721-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We randomly assign respondents to one of two information treatments or to a control group. The information treatments provide respondents with factual information about selected economic outcomes of immigrants relative to natives in the United States.
Intervention Start Date
2026-01-20
Intervention End Date
2026-02-06

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The key outcomes are preferences for: i) immigration policies; ii) welfare policies toward immigrants; iii) social inclusion policies; iv) general redistribution policies.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The questions used to measure these outcomes are presented in the attached survey questionnaire. These measures will be aggregated into indices using principal component analysis (PCA), as described in detail in the attached pre-analysis plan.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
We will also explore the treatment effects on: i) perceptions of economic outcomes of natives; ii) perceptions of economic outcomes of immigrants; iii) emotions toward immigrants; iv) attitudes toward immigrants; v) perceived economic and cultural effects of immigration.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
The questions used to measure these outcomes are presented in the attached survey questionnaire. These measures will be aggregated into indices using principal component analysis (PCA), as described in detail in the attached pre-analysis plan.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
After answering questions on their background characteristics, respondents will be randomly assigned to one of two information treatments. One treatment provides information about economic gaps between immigrants and natives, emphasizing that immigrants lag behind natives on average. The other treatment provides information emphasizing that second-generation immigrants catch up to and outperform natives economically. After the treatment, all respondents will answer the same set of outcome questions described above.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done by the survey (designed on Qualtrics)
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
4,000 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
4,000 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
≈1,200 individuals born to American parents in control group
≈1,200 individuals born to American parents in treatment 1
≈1,200 individuals born to American parents in treatment 2
≈400 second-generation immigrants in control group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Institutional Review Board University of Missouri-Columbia
IRB Approval Date
2025-08-20
IRB Approval Number
461626
Analysis Plan

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