Education and pro-family altruistic discrimination against foreigners: Five-country comparisons

Arbeitspapier

We measure differences between altruism toward a family member and toward an unknown foreigner using hypothetical questions in internet surveys across five countries: Germany, the US, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan. Our analysis shows that people in all five countries exhibit greater altruistic tendencies toward family members compared to their behavior toward foreigners. However, the degree of discrimination differs across countries. It is lowest in Germany and largest in Japan; the remaining three countries fall within this demarcated range. Further analysis shows that correlation structures between education and altruistic discrimination differ widely. In Germany, people who have spent less time in education exhibit lower altruism toward foreigners compared to toward family members. However, in Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, people with higher education levels tend to discriminate against foreigners. The degree of discrimination is insensitive to the educational background in the US sample.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: ISER Discussion Paper ; No. 1002

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers ; International Migration ; Labor Economics: General
• Subject: Altruism ; Attitude toward foreigners ; Immigration ; Education ; Blinder-Oaxaca Decomposition

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Sasaki, Shusaku ; Okuyama, Naoko ; Ogaki, Masao ; Ohtake, Fumio
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Osaka University, Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
• (where): Osaka
• (when): 2017

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/197731
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET