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Economic insecurity and the rise of the right

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  • Walter Bossert
  • Andrew E. Clark
  • Conchita D'Ambrosio
  • Anthony Lepinteur

Abstract

Economic insecurity has attracted growing attention in social, academic and policy circles. However, there is no consensus as to its precise definition. Intuitively, economic insecurity is multi-faceted, making any comprehensive formal definition that subsumes all possible aspects extremely challenging. We propose a simplified approach, and characterize a class of individual economic-insecurity measures that are based on the time profile of economic resources. We then apply our economic-insecurity measure to data on political preferences. In US, UK and German panel data, and conditional on current economic resources, economic insecurity is associated with both greater political participation (support for a party or the intention to vote) and notably more support for parties on the right of the political spectrum. We in particular find that economic insecurity predicts greater support for both Donald Trump before the 2016 US Presidential election and the UK leaving the European Union in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Suggested Citation

  • Walter Bossert & Andrew E. Clark & Conchita D'Ambrosio & Anthony Lepinteur, 2019. "Economic insecurity and the rise of the right," CEP Discussion Papers dp1659, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1659
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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Economic Insecurity and the Rise of the Right
      by maximorossi in NEP-LTV blog on 2019-11-25 22:30:16

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    Cited by:

    1. Andrew E. Clark & Anthony Lepinteur, 2022. "A Natural Experiment on Job Insecurity and Fertility in France," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(2), pages 386-398, May.
    2. Emmanuelle Augeraud-Véron & Giorgio Fabbri, 2025. "Economic Insecurity, Memory Effects and Allocations Choices," Working Papers 2025-03, Grenoble Applied Economics Laboratory (GAEL).
    3. Andrew E. Clark & Conchita D'Ambrosio & Rong Zhu, 2021. "Living in the Shadow of the Past: Financial Profiles and Well‐Being," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(3), pages 910-939, July.
    4. Stephen Drinkwater, 2021. "Brexit and the ‘left behind’: Job polarization and the rise in support for leaving the European Union," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(6), pages 569-588, November.
    5. Alessandro Gallo & Silvia Pacei, 2020. "Economic Insecurity in the Italian Macro-Regions," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(8), pages 1-65, August.
    6. Belmonte, A & Pickard, H, 2022. "Safe at Last? LATE Effects of a Mass Immunization Campaign on Households’ Economic Insecurity," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 604, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    7. Costanzo Ranci & Jason Beckfield & Laura Bernardi & Andrea Parma, 2021. "New Measures of Economic Insecurity Reveal its Expansion Into EU Middle Classes and Welfare States," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(2), pages 539-562, December.

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    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

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