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Heroes and Villains: The Effects of Heroism on Autocratic Values and Nazi Collaboration in France

Author

Listed:
  • Julia Cagé

    (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR)

  • Anna Dagorret

    (Stanford Graduate School of Business [Stanford])

  • Pauline Grosjean

    (UNSW - University of New South Wales [Sydney])

  • Saumitra Jha

    (Stanford Graduate School of Business [Stanford])

Abstract

We measure the effects of a network of heroes in legitimizing and diffusing extreme political behaviors. Exploiting newly-declassified intelligence files, novel voting data and regimental histories, we show the home municipalities of French line regiments arbitrarily rotated through Philippe Pétain's command during the heroic WWI battle of Verdun, though similar before WWI, increasingly espouse Pétain's authoritarian political views thereafter, raising 7% more active Nazi collaborators per capita during the Pétain-led Vichy regime (1940-44). The effects are similar across joining Fascist parties, German forces, paramilitaries hunting Jews and the Resistance, and collaborating economically.

Suggested Citation

  • Julia Cagé & Anna Dagorret & Pauline Grosjean & Saumitra Jha, 2022. "Heroes and Villains: The Effects of Heroism on Autocratic Values and Nazi Collaboration in France," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03880094, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:spmain:hal-03880094
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal-sciencespo.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03880094
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    Cited by:

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Heroes; Networks; Leaders; Democratic Values; Autocracy; Identity; Votes; Legitimacy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • N34 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N44 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: 1913-
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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