Paying off populism: EU regional policy decreases populist support

Robert Gold and Jakob Lehr

No 172, Kiel Policy Brief from Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel)

Abstract: How to break the populist wave? With the elections to the European Parliament ahead, and the Presidential Elections in the US looming, this question bothers policymakers in many Western democracies. Our study shows that regional policies effectively decrease populist support. Specifically, EU Regional Policy investing into the development of lagging-behind regions decreases the vote share obtained by right-fringe populist parties by 15-20 percent. Moreover, regional policy investments increase trust in democratic institutions, and decreases discontent with the EU.

Keywords: Populism; Regional Policies; European Integration; Regression Discontinuity Design; Populismus; Regionalpolitik; Europäische Integration; Regression Discontinu-ity Design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm and nep-pol
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