Publication

This paper investigates how comparative context shapes public preferences over international economic policies. The author contends that national institutions, particularly those that alter the incidence of the costs and benefits of policy alternatives, are powerful predictors of cross-national differences in opinion formation over international economic policies. The analysis examines how cleavages in public opinion over European economic integration vary across countries as a function of key characteristics of national labor markets. The main argument developed is that the skill cleavage in opinion formation over European integration depends on the degree of wage bargaining centralization.