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Voting with your feet or voting for Brexit: The tale of those stuck behind

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  • Annie Tubadji
  • Thomas Colwill
  • Don Webber

Abstract

This paper promotes the idea of a culturally‐sensitive Tiebout–Hirschman–Rothschild mechanism underpinning the UK's 2016 Brexit result. Our culture‐based development (CBD) model asserts a trade‐off between two rival types of voting: voting with one's feet or voting in a radical way due to being unable to vote with one's feet, akin to a protest vote. We explore the effects on the Brexit vote of shares of public spending on culture and a particular type of migration dynamic that triggers social closure. Our findings reveal that strong support for the Leave campaign was encountered in areas with lower local government expenditure on culture and in areas with higher outflows of UK residents. Previous literature had found that left‐behind places and places with concentrations of highly educated commuters are the pro‐Brexit nests. Our CBD mechanism of perceived relative deprivation offers a reconciling explanation of these seemingly controversial findings. Este artículo promueve la idea de un mecanismo Tiebout‐Hirschman‐Rothschild culturalmente sensible que sustenta el resultado del Brexit del Reino Unido en 2016. Este modelo de desarrollo basado en la cultura (DBC) afirma la existencia de un equilibrio entre dos tipos de voto rivales: votar haciendo lo que se predica o votar de forma radical debido a la imposibilidad de votar haciendo lo que se predica, algo parecido al voto protesta. Se estudiaron los efectos en el voto del Brexit de las cuotas de gasto público en cultura y un tipo particular de dinámica migratoria que desencadena el cierre social. Los resultados revelan que se encontró un fuerte apoyo a la campaña de “Leave” en las zonas con menor gasto del gobierno local en cultura y en las zonas con mayor salida de residentes del Reino Unido. La bibliografía anterior había constatado que los lugares rezagados y los lugares con concentraciones de personas con alto nivel de estudios son los nidos pro‐Brexit. Nuestro mecanismo de DBC de privación relativa percibida ofrece una explicación conciliadora de estos hallazgos que aparentemente se contradicen. 本稿では、2016年の英国のブレグジットの基礎となった、Tiebout‐Hirschman‐Rothschild機構の文化的に敏感な考えを提唱する。著者らculture‐based development (CBD:文化ベースの開発)モデルは、競合する二つのタイプの投票、すなわち出席することによって賛成の意思表示をするか、または出席することによって賛成の意思表示をできないために抗議票のように過激な方法で意思表示をするかの間にあるトレードオフを主張する。文化に対する公共支出の割合と社会的閉鎖を引き起こす特定のタイプの移住動向のブレグジット投票への影響を検討する。結果から、文化に対する地方政府の支出が低い地域および英国住民の流出が高い地域で離脱キャンペーンの支持が強いことが明らかになった。既存研究では、その他の場所や高学歴の通勤者が集中している場所がブレグジット賛成派の中心地であることが明らかにされている。著者らの認知された相対的剥奪のCBD機構から、この矛盾があるように見られる知見に折り合いをつける説明が得られる。

Suggested Citation

  • Annie Tubadji & Thomas Colwill & Don Webber, 2021. "Voting with your feet or voting for Brexit: The tale of those stuck behind," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(2), pages 247-277, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:rgscpp:v:13:y:2021:i:2:p:247-277
    DOI: 10.1111/rsp3.12387
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    1. Eveline S. van Leeuwen & Solmaria Halleck Vega, 2021. "Voting and the rise of populism: Spatial perspectives and applications across Europe," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(2), pages 209-219, April.
    2. Annie Tubadji & Don J. Webber & Frédéric Boy, 2021. "Cultural and economic discrimination by the Great Leveller," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(S1), pages 198-216, November.

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