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Economic Uncertainty and Divisive Politics: Evidence from the dos Españas

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  • García-Uribe, Sandra
  • Mueller, Hannes
  • Sanz, Carlos

Abstract

This article exploits two newspaper archives to track economic policy uncertainty in Spain from 1905–1945. We find that the outbreak of the Civil War in 1936 was anticipated by a striking upward level shift of uncertainty in both newspapers. We study the reasons for this shift through a natural language processing method, which allows us to leverage expert opinion to track specific issues in our newspaper archives. We find a strong empirical link between increasing uncertainty and the rise of divisive political issues like socio-economic conflict. This holds even when exploiting content differences between the two newspapers in our corpus.

Suggested Citation

  • García-Uribe, Sandra & Mueller, Hannes & Sanz, Carlos, 2024. "Economic Uncertainty and Divisive Politics: Evidence from the dos Españas," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 84(1), pages 40-73, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:84:y:2024:i:1:p:40-73_2
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    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • N14 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N24 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - Europe: 1913-
    • N44 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: 1913-

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