Inclusive or Exclusive? Family Migration and Attitudes About Migrants in West Africa

Existing research finds that respondents treated with a question about their family’s migration history to the United States are more likely to empathize with migrants as well as likely to hold more favorable views of migrants. We extend this research in several ways: first, we extend it to Côte d’Ivoire, a non-western country in Africa that has historically had high rates of immigration from other African countries as well as from France and Lebanon. Second, we specify places where people have come from as this is likely to affect views of migration. Immigration is a highly political issue in Côte d’Ivoire but especially as it related to source. Does, then, treating people with a statement about their family’s migration cause them to be more inclusive about immigrants? Moreover, does treating people with a specific place make them inclusive or exclusive about immigrants? We test this latter claim by specifying places where families have historically come from focusing on the Akan-speaking areas of Ghana, Malinké-speaking areas of Mali, and Mossi-speaking areas of Burkina Faso. Are respondents more inclusive when they are matched with the region where their families are from originally? And are they more exclusive when they are not matched with the region where their families are from? Are they more inclusive when matched with Africa in general? This study examines these questions using a survey experiment in Côte d’Ivoire. The survey has four treatments in which respondents are asked if their families are from (i) Akan-speaking areas specified as Ghana (ii) Malinké-speaking areas specified as Mali (iii) Mosi-speaking areas specified as Burkina Faso or (iv) other African countries. A control asks nothing about their family’s history. Outcomes will ask about their empathy for migrants (the mediator variable), and two outcomes related to if migration in Côte d’Ivoire should be more or less open and how respondents feel about migrants on a scale from 0 totally unfavorable to 10 totally favorable. While the research is exploratory it is expected that respondents (i) will show more favorable attitudes when they are matched to their own ethnic group (ii) will show more favorable attitudes when asked if their families are from elsewhere in Africa and (iii) will show less favorable attitudes when they are not matched to their own ethnic group. Respondents will be selected in six different clusters in Abidjan using a random walk. A single enumerator will be used to minimize enumerator effects.