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The Brexit referendum and the rise in hate crime; conforming to the new norm

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  • Facundo Albornoz
  • Jake Bradley
  • Silvia Sonderegger

Abstract

We show that the sharp increase in hate crime following the Brexit referendum was more pronounced in more pro-remain areas. This is consistent with a model where behavior is dictated by the desire to conform to imperfectly observed social norms in addition to following individual preferences, and where the referendum revealed that society’s real preferences over immigration were less positive than previously thought. For identification, we exploit the feature that the referendum revealed new information overnight in a context where other determinants of attitudes remained constant. The data can be replicated with a sensible parameterization of the model.

Suggested Citation

  • Facundo Albornoz & Jake Bradley & Silvia Sonderegger, 2020. "The Brexit referendum and the rise in hate crime; conforming to the new norm," Discussion Papers 2020-06, Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP).
    • Handle: RePEc:not:notnic:2020-06
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    1. Brexit and hate crime: why was the rise more pronounced in areas that voted Remain?
      by LSE BPP in British Politics and Policy at LSE on 2021-01-12 08:00:23

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    3. Entorf, Horst & Lange, Martin, 2023. "Refugees welcome? Understanding the regional heterogeneity of anti-refugee hate crime," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    4. Hagemeister, Felix, 2022. "Populism and propagation of far-right extremism," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    5. Daria Denti, 2022. "Looking ahead in anger: The effects of foreign migration on youth resentment in England," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(2), pages 578-603, March.
    6. Bray, Kerry & Braakmann, Nils & Wildman, John, 2024. "Austerity, welfare cuts and hate crime: Evidence from the UK's age of austerity," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).

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    Keywords

    Hate crime; Brexit; attitudes towards immigrants; social norms; value of information;
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