Autori: Conzo, Pierluigi, Zotti, Roberto, Boldrini, Michela, Fiore, Simona
Titolo: Blaming migrants doesn’t pay: the political effects of the Ebola epidemic in Italy.
Periodico: Università degli studi di Torino. Dip. Di Economia e Statistica Cognetti de Martiis. Working paper series
Anno: 2023 - Volume: 9 - Fascicolo: 12 - Pagina iniziale: 1 - Pagina finale: 48

This paper investigates the political consequences of perceived health risks asso- ciated with immigration in Italy. We leverage the exogeneity of the 2014 Ebola epidemic, which resulted in almost no cases in Italy but triggered a significant pub- lic reaction, with extreme right-wing politicians claiming ongoing immigration could endanger citizens’ health. In a differences-in-differences framework, we examine the changes in the vote share of the main right-wing and anti-immigration party, Lega, across Northern Italian municipalities before and during the Ebola outbreak. Treat- ment is based on perceived exposure to risk-Ebola immigrants, proxied by the local historical concentration of immigrants from countries affected by Ebola in 2014. Re- sults document a drop in political support for Lega in municipalities with a larger share of risk-Ebola migrants. Our findings, robust to falsification tests and alter- native treatment definitions, suggest that strategically exploiting a health crisis to garner support for anti-immigrant policies can eventually backfire.




Testo completo: https://www.est.unito.it/do/home.pl/Download?doc=/allegati/wp2023dip/wp_20_2023.pdf

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