Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

Working Paper Series,
Research Institute of Industrial Economics

No 1304: Globalization and Populism in Europe

Andreas Bergh () and Anders Kärnä ()
Additional contact information
Andreas Bergh: Lund University, Postal: and Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), Stockholm, Sweden,
Anders Kärnä: Örebro University, Postal: and Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract: Recent micro-level studies have suggested that globalization - in particular, economic globalization and trade with China - breeds political polarization and populism. This study examines whether or not those results generalize by examining the country-level association between vote shares for European populist parties and economic globalization. Using data on vote shares for 267 right-wing and left-wing populist parties in 33 European countries during 1980-2017, and globalization data from the KOF-institute, we find no evidence of a positive association between (economic or other types of) globalization and populism. EU-membership is associated with 4 to 6 percentage points larger vote shares for right-wing populist parties.

Keywords: Globalization; Populism; Trade

JEL-codes: F68; P16

21 pages, First version: November 19, 2019. Revised: October 6, 2020.

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