Italy: Immigration and the evolution of populism

Luca Pieroni, Melcior Rosselló Roig and Luca Salmasi

European Journal of Political Economy, 2023, vol. 76, issue C

Abstract: We study the effect of immigration on the upsurge of right-wing populism in Italy. Our data considers electoral results at the municipality level of the Senate of the Italian Republic and the Chamber of Deputies over the period 2006–2018. Using an IV strategy based on the shift–share instrument, we find that immigration generates a sizable causal increase in votes for the right-wing populist party Lega. Immigration also works as a major catalyst for the electoral distance between Lega and its most direct competitors. We explore how different levels of tax autonomy impact the results, as well as how the re-branding of Lega as a national movement affects the relation between immigration and support for the party.

Keywords: Immigration; Populism; Italy; Instrumental variables (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 J15 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Working Paper: Italy: immigration and the evolution of populism (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:poleco:v:76:y:2023:i:c:s0176268022000647

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2022.102260

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