Family and politics: does parental unemployment cause right-wing extremism?
Recent years have witnessed a rise in right-wing extremism among German youth and young adults. This paper investigates the extent to which the experience of parental unemployment during childhood affects young people's far right-wing attitudes and xenophobia. Estimates from three different German data sets show a positive relationship between growing up with unemployed parents and right-wing extremism, with xenophobia in particular. This paper uses differences in unemployment levels between East and West Germany, both before and after reunification, to investigate a causal relationship. Instrumental variables estimates suggest strong and significant effects of parental unemployment on right-wing extremism. This is consistent with classical theories of economic interest and voting behaviour which predict that persons who develop feelings of economic insecurity are more susceptible to right-wing extremism and anti-foreign sentiments.
Year of publication: |
2006
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Authors: | Siedler, Thomas |
Publisher: |
Bonn : Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) |
Saved in:
freely available
Series: | IZA Discussion Papers ; 2411 |
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Type of publication: | Book / Working Paper |
Type of publication (narrower categories): | Working Paper |
Language: | English |
Other identifiers: | 537599096 [GVK] hdl:10419/33905 [Handle] |
Source: |
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10010267879
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