Did Austerity Cause Brexit?

Thiemo Fetzer

No 13846, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: This paper documents a significant association between the exposure of an individual or area to the UK government’s austerity-induced welfare reforms begun in 2010, and the following: the subsequent rise in support for the UK Independence Party, an important correlate of Leave support in the 2016 UK referendum on European Union membership; broader individual-level measures of political dissatisfaction; and direct measures of support for Leave. Leveraging data from all UK electoral contests since 2000, along with detailed, individual-level panel data, the findings suggest that the EU referendum could have resulted in a Remain victory had it not been for austerity.

Keywords: Political economy; Austerity; Globalization; Voting; Eu (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 H2 H3 H5 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-eec, nep-int, nep-pke and nep-pol
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (231)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Did Austerity Cause Brexit? (2019)
Working Paper: Did Austerity Cause Brexit? (2018)
Working Paper: Did Austerity Cause Brexit? (2018)
Working Paper: Did Austerity Cause Brexit? (2018)
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