Did Austerity Cause Brexit?

Thiemo Fetzer

CAGE Online Working Paper Series from Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE)

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.

Keywords: Political Economy; Austerity; Globalization; Voting; EU JEL Classification: H2; H3; H5; P16; D72 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (47)

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https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/c ... /381-2018_fetzer.pdf

Related works:
Journal Article: Did Austerity Cause Brexit? (2019)
Working Paper: Did Austerity Cause Brexit? (2019)
Working Paper: Did Austerity Cause Brexit? (2018)
Working Paper: Did Austerity Cause Brexit? (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cge:wacage:381

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