Learning to Participate in Politics: Evidence from Jewish Expulsions in Nazi Germany

50 Pages Posted: 5 Jun 2017

See all articles by Mevlude Akbulut-Yuksel

Mevlude Akbulut-Yuksel

IZA Institute of Labor Economics; Dalhousie University ; Dalhousie University

Dozie Okoye

Dalhousie University - Department of Economics

Mutlu Yuksel

IZA; Dalhousie University

Abstract

This paper provides causal evidence on the importance of socioeconomic circumstances, socialization, and childhood events, in the formation of adult political behaviour and attitudes, using region-by-cohort variation in exposure to the Jewish expulsions in Nazi Germany as a quasi-experiment. We find that the expulsion of Jewish professionals had long-lasting detrimental effects on the political attitudes and beliefs of Germans who were at impressionable years during the Nazi Regime.We further demonstrate that these adverse effects on political behaviour and attitudes may be explained by the social changes brought about by the expulsions, which led to relatively lower adult socioeconomic status and civic skills for individuals in their impressionable ages during the expulsions. These results are robust to several alternative specifications, composition bias induced by differential migration and mortality rates across regions and cohorts, and also regional differences in economic performance, wartime destruction, urbanization, and party support, during the Nazi Regime.

Keywords: political behaviour, impressionable years, Jewish expulsions, socioeconomic status

JEL Classification: D72, D74, O12, P16, N40

Suggested Citation

Akbulut-Yuksel, Mevlude and Okoye, Dozie and Yuksel, Mutlu and Yuksel, Mutlu, Learning to Participate in Politics: Evidence from Jewish Expulsions in Nazi Germany. IZA Discussion Paper No. 10778, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2979924 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2979924

Mevlude Akbulut-Yuksel (Contact Author)

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

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

Dalhousie University ( email )

Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3J5
Canada

Dalhousie University ( email )

Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3J5
Canada

Dozie Okoye

Dalhousie University - Department of Economics ( email )

Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3J5
Canada

Mutlu Yuksel

IZA ( email )

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

Dalhousie University ( email )

Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 3J5
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://myweb.dal.ca/mt899590/

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