Abstract
This paper investigates how right-wing populist voting following the 2015 refugee wave was affected by regional characteristics, using data from a quasi-natural experiment in Sweden. The results suggest that voting outcomes are heavily dependent on pre-influx municipal characteristics. In localities with strong anti-immigration sentiments during the 1990s refugee wave, as well as in areas with high crime rates before the refugee wave, there is a positive relationship between immigration rates and anti-immigration voting. However, the immigration-related increase in the nationalist vote is significantly smaller in depopulation areas. These polarizing effects on voting are exacerbated when considering immigration of young males.
| Translated title of the contribution | Regionala aspekter av invandringsrelaterade förändringar i politiska preferenser |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Pages (from-to) | 1386-1413 |
| Journal | Journal of Regional Science |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Early online date | 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2022 |
Subject classification (UKÄ)
- Economics
Free keywords
- immigration
- persistence
- quasi‐natura experiment
- right‐wingpopulism
- unaccompanied
- minors
- urbanization
- voting
