Firms, Labor Markets and Anti-System Politics: Essays on the Political Economy of Populism

Abstract

The limitations of existing political economy theories about the rise of populism motivate an approach that is centered on firms and employment trajectories as causes of individual frustration. In this dissertation, I explore the political economy causes of the rise of populism in both developed and developing economies. I address the gap in the literature that relates individual economic hardship and populist preferences. I argue that explanations proposing economic changes as causes of anti-system politics, like globalization, trade, or skill-biased technological change, are incomplete if firms are ignored. I test a firm-based theory of anti-system politics in Italy and Brazil, using a combination of original survey data, survey experiments and quasi-experimental designs. In the last chapter I focus on the case of France and show that there is a link between labor market characteristics, political deattachment, and a preference for outsider candidates that can operate independently of issue-based ideological preferences.