Refugee crisis and right-wing populism: Evidence from the Italian Dispersal Policy

Francesco Campo, Sara Giunti and Mariapia Mendola

European Economic Review, 2024, vol. 168, issue C

Abstract: This paper examines the impact of the 2014–2017 ‘Refugee Crisis’ in Italy on voting behavior and the rise of right-wing populism in national Parliamentary elections. Our analysis exploits unique administrative data on refugee reception centers across Italian municipalities and exogenous variation in refugee resettlement induced by the Dispersal Policy. We find a positive and significant effect, although small in magnitude, of the share of asylum seekers on support for radical-right anti-immigration parties, which runs in parallel with a decline in public support for center-left parties. We further examine the mechanisms underlying this shift in political preferences and provide causal evidence that anti-immigration backlash rather than being rooted in adverse economic effects is triggered by radical-right propaganda and hate-speech.

Keywords: Immigration; Refugee crisis; Voting behavior; Dispersal Policy; Propaganda (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 F22 O15 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Working Paper: The Refugee Crisis and Right-Wing Populism: Evidence from the Italian Dispersal Policy (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:168:y:2024:i:c:s0014292124001557

DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2024.104826

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