Disentangling aporophobia from xenophobia in the EU-15

This paper analyses whether the human capital levels embodied in immigrants can explain xenophobic trends for 126 regions in 14 EU-15 countries from 1998 to 2018. It tests if xenophobic regions may be rejecting immigrants because they are poor, a phenomenon recently defined as ‘aporophobia’. The results indicate that larger inflows of low-educated immigrants working in low-skilled occupations are significantly correlated with a higher rejection of migrants, thus confirming the aporophobia hypothesis. The findings in this paper bring light to the discussion of a powerful concept which underpins the need for a more just society.