NES Center for the Study of Diversity and Social Interactions and HSE International Center for the Study of Institutions and Development are happy to invite you to our joint meeting of the Research Seminar on Diversity and Development and HSE Seminar on Political Economy.
Alexey Makarin (Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance) will present the paper “The Political Legacy of Nazi Annexation” (joint work with Mario Cannella and Ricardo Pique).
Registration: till 3 p.m. of December 8, link to video-conference will be sent up to 5 p.m.
Abstract:
This paper uses a historical natural experiment – the case of Nazi Operational Zones (OZ) in Italy during WWII – to shed light on the legacy of foreign state repression. While most of Northern Italy was placed under Fascist rule and German military occupation, the OZ were temporarily annexed by Nazi Germany and subjected to full German administrative and military control. A large segment of the OZ boundary partitioned historically homogeneous regions in a quasi-exogenous manner. Using a spatial regression discontinuity design, we first show that the OZ experienced greater foreign repression in the form of political persecution and violence than the neighboring area which was militarily occupied but not annexed. After the war, OZ areas exhibited a higher degree of support for radical opposition and lower political participation. We interpret these findings as evidence of disenchantment in the political process and the state. Consistent with this argument, voters in affected areas showed lower political trust and less support for state power to repress dissent. Overall, our results suggest that foreign repression, even if temporary, can have enduring political and social consequences.