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Creating Europe through culture? The impact of the European Song Contest on European identity

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  • Tom Coupe

    (University of Canterbury)

  • Natalia Chaban

    (University of Canterbury)

Abstract

The UK’s Brexit vote marked a major institutional crisis for the EU and re-opened both the scholarly and the popular debate about the importance and drivers of a “European identity”. We use quasi-experimental data to estimate the immediate impact of the biggest pan-European cultural event, the Eurovision Song Contest, on whether people in Europe consider themselves to be Europeans. Using data from several Eurobarometer surveys with tens of thousands of observations, we find little evidence that the contest at current provides a sizeable immediate boost to the share of Europeans who feel European, feel EU citizens, or have a positive image of the EU.

Suggested Citation

  • Tom Coupe & Natalia Chaban, 2020. "Creating Europe through culture? The impact of the European Song Contest on European identity," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 47(4), pages 885-908, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:empiri:v:47:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s10663-019-09461-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s10663-019-09461-6
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    1. Hila Zahavi & Gal Ariely, 2023. "External perceptions of the European Union in Israel—the role of norms and culture," European Union Politics, , vol. 24(4), pages 708-725, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    European identity; Eurovision; Quasi-experiment; Culture;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N44 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: 1913-
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

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