Has immigration contributed to the rise of right-wing extremist parties in Europe?

Anthony Edo and Yvonne Giesing

CEPII Policy Brief from CEPII research center

Abstract: Alongside a range of already well documented factors such as deindustrialization, technological progress and international trade, a series of recent empirical econometric studies show that immigration has contributed to the rise of extreme right-wing parties in Europe. Our study highlights, however, that there is no mechanical link between the rise of immigration and that of extreme right-wing parties. Exploiting French presidential elections from 1988 to 2017, we show that the positive impact of immigration on votes for extreme right-wing parties is driven by low-skilled immigration and immigration from non-European countries. Our results moreover show that high-skilled immigration from non-European countries has a negative impact on extreme right-wing parties. These findings suggest that the degree of economic and social integration of immigrants plays an important role in the formation of anti-immigrant sentiment. Fostering integration should therefore reduce negative attitudes toward immigrants and preserve national cohesion at a time when the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic could reinforce mistrust and xenophobia.

Keywords: Voting; Immigration; Political Economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 F22 J15 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-int, nep-mig and nep-pol
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Working Paper: Has Immigration Contributed to the Rise of Rightwing Extremist Parties in Europe? (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cii:cepipb:2020-34

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