How do citizens perceive centralization reforms? Evidence from the merger of French regions

Lionel Wilner

Documents de Travail de l'Insee - INSEE Working Papers from Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques

Abstract: Using the 2016 merger of French regions as a natural experiment, this paper adopts a difference-in-difference identification strategy to recover its causal impact on individual subjective wellbeing. No depressing effect is found despite increased centralization; life satisfaction has even increased in regions that were absorbed from economic and political viewpoints. The empirical evidence also suggests that local economic performance improved in the concerned regions, which includes a faster decline in the unemployment rate. In this setting, economic gains have likely outweighed cultural attachment to administrative regions.

Keywords: Merger of regions; natural experiment; difference-in-difference; subjective wellbeing; centralization. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H75 I31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-hap and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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https://www.bnsp.insee.fr/ark:/12148/bc6p06zrjz5/f1.pdf Document de travail de la DESE numéro G2020/07 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: How do citizens perceive centralization reforms? Evidence from the merger of French regions (2021)
Working Paper: Fusion des régions: quels effets perceptibles par la population ? (2021)
Working Paper: Fusion des régions: quels effets perceptibles par la population ? (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nse:doctra:g2020-07

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