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Populists in Power

Author

Listed:
  • Luisa Doerr
  • Niklas Potrafke
  • Felix Roesel

Abstract

We examine how populist governments influence political culture and economic outcomes. Some Austrian communities are governed by far-right populist mayors, directly elected by a majority of voters. We exploit close elections and find that the electorate becomes more polarized under populist mayors. However, polarization is not limited to politics. A major innovation of our study is using data on team members of local football teams. Our results show that diversity in local football teams decreases when populists are in power, indicating that populists infiltrate the civic society. When it comes to economic outcomes, migration and budget transparency decrease under populist governments.

Suggested Citation

  • Luisa Doerr & Niklas Potrafke & Felix Roesel, 2021. "Populists in Power," CESifo Working Paper Series 9336, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9336
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    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp9336.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Manuel Funke & Moritz Schularick & Christoph Trebesch, 2023. "Populist Leaders and the Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(12), pages 3249-3288, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    populism; far-right politics; partisan politics; polarization; immigration; economic policy; local government; budget transparency;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
    • Z18 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Public Policy

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