CEPII, Recherche et Expertise sur l'economie mondiale
Immigration, Identity Choices, and Cultural Diversity


Yasmine Elkhateeb
Riccardo Turati
Jérôme Valette

 Highlights :
  • Immigration is associated with an increase in the salience of birthplace along cultural lines.
  • Immigration induces a shift toward nativist identities.
  • Immigration fosters cultural convergence within the native population.

 Abstract :
Does immigration challenge the identities, values, and cultural diversity of receiving societies? This paper addresses this question by analyzing the impact of immigration on cultural diversity in Europe between 2004 and 2018. It combines regional cultural diversity indices derived from the European Social Survey with immigration shares from the European Labor Force Survey. The results indicate that immigration increases the salience of birthplace identity along cultural lines, fostering a shift toward nativist identities among the native population. These identity shifts, in turn, trigger a process of cultural homogenization among natives. This effect is stronger in regions receiving culturally distant immigrants. It reflects a process of convergence toward the values of highly skilled liberal natives and divergence from those of low-skilled conservative immigrants.


 Keywords : Immigration | Social Identity | Cultural Diversity

 JEL : F22, D03, D72, Z10
CEPII Working Paper
N°2025-18, November 2025

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 Fields of expertise

Migrations
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