Public Support for Free Trade Agreements: The Influence of Economic Concerns, Group Identification, and Cognitive Involvement

Abstract

This study develops and tests a model of the influences on citizens' support for more open markets. The flow of influence in the model features eight antecedent constructs whose proposed explanatory power is based on three themes: citizens' economic concerns, group identification, and cognitive involvement in the issues. The model was tested by subjecting survey data from 240 respondents to structural equation analysis. The results support the three conceptual themes used to generate a pattern of proposed influences on the endorsement of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (and the antecedent endogenous constructs in the model). Support for NAFTA increases with citizens' level of knowledge and assessed importance of NAFTA; support decreases with perceived U.S. economic vulnerability, call for job protection, conservatism, xenophobia, and believability of Perot.