Mr. Rossi, Mr. Hu and politics. The role of immigration in shaping natives' voting behavior

Guglielmo Barone (), Alessio D'Ignazio, Guido de Blasio and Paolo Naticchioni

Journal of Public Economics, 2016, vol. 136, issue C, 1-13

Abstract: Using Italian municipality-level data on national elections and IV estimation strategy, we find that immigration generates a sizable causal increase in votes for the center-right coalition, which has a political platform less favorable to immigrants. Additional findings are: (i) the effect is heterogeneous across municipalities with different sizes; (ii) the gain in votes for the center-right coalition corresponds to a loss of votes for the center and center-left parties, a decrease in voter turnout, and a rise in protest votes; (iii) the relationship between immigration and electoral gains percolates to mayoral election at the municipality level; (iv) cultural diversity, competition in the labor market and for public services, and political competition are the most relevant channels at work.

Keywords: Immigration; Voting; Political economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 J61 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (209)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:136:y:2016:i:c:p:1-13

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.03.002

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