What are You Voting for? Proximity to Refugee Reception Centres and Voting in the 2016 Italian Constitutional Referendum

40 Pages Posted: 2 Oct 2017

See all articles by Massimiliano Bratti

Massimiliano Bratti

Università degli Studi di Milano - DEAS; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Claudio Deiana

University of Cagliari - Department of Economics; University of Essex - Department of Economics; Universita di Cagliari - Centre for North South Economic Research (CRENOS)

Enkelejda Havari

European Commission - Joint Research Centre; affiliation not provided to SSRN

Gianluca Mazzarella

European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC)

Elena Claudia Meroni

Joint Research Center of the European Commission

Date Written: September 2017

Abstract

In December 2016, the Italian electorate voted for a referendum on crucial constitutional reform promoted by the governing party. The official aims of the reform were both to improve the country’s governability and stability and to simplify the institutional setup. Despite not strictly being a political vote, the referendum was largely perceived as an assessment of the Prime Minister’s work and the activity of his government. Using Italian municipality data, we provide novel empirical evidence on the impact of geographical proximity to refugee reception centres on voting behaviour. Our analysis demonstrates that being closer to refugee centres increased (1) the referendum turnout and (2) the proportion of anti-government votes. This evidence is consistent with the fact that the main opposition parties exploited the anti-immigration sentiments that were mounting in the population to influence people’s voting.

Keywords: proximity, voting, refugee reception centres, referendum, Constitution, Italy

JEL Classification: P16, R23, D72

Suggested Citation

Bratti, Massimiliano and Deiana, Claudio and Havari, Enkelejda and Havari, Enkelejda and Mazzarella, Gianluca and Meroni, Elena Claudia, What are You Voting for? Proximity to Refugee Reception Centres and Voting in the 2016 Italian Constitutional Referendum (September 2017). IZA Discussion Paper No. 11060, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3045757 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3045757

Massimiliano Bratti (Contact Author)

Università degli Studi di Milano - DEAS ( email )

Via Conservatorio, 7
I-20122 Milano
Italy

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Claudio Deiana

University of Cagliari - Department of Economics ( email )

Cagliari, 09124
Italy

University of Essex - Department of Economics ( email )

Wivenhoe Park
Colchester, CO4 3SQ
United Kingdom

Universita di Cagliari - Centre for North South Economic Research (CRENOS) ( email )

V. S. Ignazio 78
Cagliari, 09124
ITALY

Enkelejda Havari

European Commission - Joint Research Centre ( email )

Via Enrico Fermi
Ispra, Varese 21027
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://https://sites.google.com/site/enkehavari/

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Gianluca Mazzarella

European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) ( email )

Via Enrico Fermi 2749, Ispra, VA
Ispra, VA 21027
Italy

Elena Claudia Meroni

Joint Research Center of the European Commission

Via E. Fermi 2749
Ispra (VA), I-21027
Italy

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