Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/236358 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 14327
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We analyze how the exposure to adverse macroeconomic conditions during the "impressionable years" (i.e., between the age of 18 and 25), in interaction with welfare state institutions, forms political attitudes in adulthood. Based on a large panel dataset of European countries, we find that individuals who experienced high unemployment under a regime of low unemployment benefits are more in favor of redistribution later in life and state an orientation more oriented towards the left. However, negative economic shocks in an environment with a very generous unemployment insurance are related to less support of redistribution and a more rightist political attitude later on. The development of the welfare state thus seems crucial for how economic shocks affect the evolution of preferences and norms in society and thus finally feedback on institutional change.
Subjects: 
macroeconomic experiences
impressionable years
support for redistribution
unemployment
unemployment insurance
JEL: 
E60
J65
P16
P48
Z13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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