Sailing through history: the legacy of medieval sea trade on migrant perception and extreme right voting

Anna Bottasso, Gianluca Cerruti, Maurizio Conti and Marta Santagata

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: This study evaluates whether exposure of local areas to medieval Mediterranean trade with Africa and the Middle East still shapes Italian political attitudes. Such exchanges may have fostered cultural traits that eased interaction with people of different cultures, ethnicities, and religions. We show that individuals living near a medieval port are less likely to view migrants as a security threat or to report right-wing voting preferences; these areas also had fewer xenophobic attacks during the 2015 Syrian refugee surge. We also find that right-wing parties received fewer votes near medieval ports only when immigration was highly salient. Finally, we document a lower probability of Jewish deportations near medieval ports during the Nazi occupation, the only period when a minority group was explicitly targeted. This suggests that deep-rooted cultural traits can re-emerge when historical and political conditions make them relevant.

Keywords: persistence studies; trade networks; political preferences; cultural persistence; immigration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 F22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2026-06-30
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Published in Journal of Population Economics, 30, June, 2026, 39(2). ISSN: 0933-1433

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