The interaction impact on attitudes – Native Swedes’ attitudes towards labor immigrants and guest workers after the hurricane Gudrun

We make use of a natural experiment, the hurricane ‘Gudrun’, and investigate the impact of human interaction on attitudes towards the labor market. Comparing attitudes between one group of Swedish forest owners that had interacted with guest workers, and one that had not, differences in attitudes towards guest workers is identified concerning the labor market performance and work moral. Those who had interacted have a more positive attitude than those who not interacted. The experimental setting makes it possible to claim that this observed difference in attitudes was an effect of interaction.