Populism and the Skill-Content of Globalization

Frédéric Docquier (), Stefano Iandolo (), Hillel Rapoport (), Riccardo Turati and Gonzague Vannoorenberghe ()
Additional contact information
Frédéric Docquier: LISER
Stefano Iandolo: University of Salerno
Gonzague Vannoorenberghe: Catholic University Louvain

No 18041, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We propose new ways to measure populism, using the Manifesto Project Database (1960-2019) as main source of data. We characterize the evolution of populism over 60 years and show empirically that it is significantly impacted by the skill-content of globalization. Specifically, imports of goods which are intensive in low-skill labor generate more right-wing populism, and low-skill immigration shifts the distribution of votes to the right, with more votes for right-wing populist parties and less for left-wing populist parties. In contrast, imports of high-skill labor intensive goods, as well as high-skill immigration flows, tend to reduce the volume of populism.

Keywords: immigration; populism; globalization; trade (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 F22 F52 J61 P00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-lab and nep-pol
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Related works:
Working Paper: Populism and the Skill-Content of Globalization (2025)
Working Paper: Populism and the Skill-Content of Globalization (2024)
Working Paper: Populism and the skill content of globalisation (2024)
Working Paper: Populism and the skill content of globalisation (2024)
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