Never Forget the First Time: The Persistent Effects of Corruption and the Rise of Populism in Italy

Arnstein Aassve, Gianmarco Daniele and Marco Le Moglie

No 1896, BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers from BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy

Abstract: The paper studies the long term impact of corruption on trust towards institutions. Previous studies have demonstrated that exposure to corruption may lower institutional trust in the short run. Whether those short term effects translate into a persistent effect is not known. We study the onset of a corruption shock that took place in Italy between 1992 and 1994. Using recent data from the Trustlab project, coordinated by the OECD, we find that young first time voters exposed to the corruption scandal still today, 25 years later, exert significantly lower institutional trust. A follow up survey reveals that their exposure to corruption also affected their current voting behavior and political preferences. In particular, those young first time voters exposed to the corruption were more likely to vote for populist parties at the 2018 national elections and to have less favourable attitudes towards immigrants and refugees.

Keywords: Corruption; Institutional trust; Populism; First-time voter; Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 D73 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 76 pages
Date: 2018
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-eur, nep-pol and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:baf:cbafwp:cbafwp1896

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