Impressionable Years: Economic Trend and Millennials’ Attitudes towards the EU

Chiara Baggetta, Gianluca Cerruti and Marta Santagata
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Chiara Baggetta: Department of Economics, University of Genoa, Italy
Gianluca Cerruti: Department of Economics, University of Genoa, Italy
Marta Santagata: Department of Political and International Sciences, University of Genoa, Italy

Economia Internazionale / International Economics, 2025, vol. 78, issue 3, 337-360

Abstract: This paper investigates the relationship between economic performance during individuals’ impressionable years a critical life stage when attitudes are durably shaped and millennials’ attitudes toward the European Union. Focusing on four major countries (Italy, France, Germany, and Spain), we test whether experiencing economic disadvantage during this period influences young Europeans’ perceptions of the EU’s efficacy in supporting national economies. Using a Probit model, we find that living in a country with low GDP per capita growth during impressionable years significantly increases the likelihood of negative attitudes toward the EU, with an estimated effect size of 5.7%. This relationship is robust across alternative model specifications and is particularly strong among individuals whose parents lack tertiary education.

Impressionable years: tendenze economiche e atteggiamenti dei millennial nei confronti dell'Unione europea

Il presente lavoro analizza la relazione tra la performance economica durante gli impressionable years degli individui una fase critica della vita in cui gli atteggiamenti si formano in modo duraturo e gli atteggiamenti dei millennial nei confronti dell’Unione europea (UE). Concentrandoci su quattro grandi Paesi (Italia, Francia, Germania e Spagna), verifichiamo se l’aver sperimentato uno svantaggio economico durante questo periodo influenzi la percezione dei giovani europei sull’efficacia dell’UE nel sostenere le economie nazionali. Utilizzando un modello Probit, troviamo che vivere in un Paese con una crescita del PIL pro capite bassa durante gli impressionable years aumenta significativamente la probabilità di avere atteggiamenti negativi nei confronti dell’UE, con un effetto stimato del 5,7%. Questa relazione è robusta attraverso specifiche alternative del modello ed è particolarmente forte tra gli individui i cui genitori non hanno conseguito il diploma universitario.

Keywords: Impressionable Years; Political Discontent; Economic Growth; European Union; Individual Perception (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 R11 R58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ris:ecoint:022213

DOI: 10.65644/EIIE.078.03.0337

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