This paper analyzes welfare-state determinants of individual attitudes towards
immigrants - within and across countries - and their interaction with labor-market
drivers of preferences. We consider two different mechanisms through which a
redistributive welfare system might adjust as a result of immigration. Under the first
scenario, immigration has a larger impact on individuals at the top of the income
distribution, while under the second one it is low-income individuals who are most
affected through this channel. Individual attitudes are consistent with the first
welfare-state scenario and with labor-market determinants of immigration attitudes.
In countries where natives are on average more skilled than immigrants, individual
income is negatively correlated with pro-immigration preferences, while individual
skill is positively correlated with them. These relationships have the opposite signs in
economies characterized by skilled migration (relative to the native population).
Such results are confirmed when we exploit international differences in the
characteristics of destination countries' welfare state