Did Austerity Cause Brexit?

Thiemo Fetzer

American Economic Review, 2019, vol. 109, issue 11, 3849-86

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.

JEL-codes: D72 F15 F60 H53 I38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.20181164
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (186)

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Related works:
Working Paper: 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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