We examine the impact of the opening of refugee reception centers on natives' social media activity and voting behaviour in the Netherlands during the large and unexpected refugee inflow of 2015-2016.
- Speaker
- Date
- Thursday 22 May 2025, 11:45 - 12:45
- Type
- Seminar
- Room
- Kitchen/Lounge E1
- Building
- E Building
(joint work with Paul Bose (Tor Vergata)
Using over 100 million geocoded tweets and a difference-in-differences approach, we find a short-lived surge in refugee salience on social media, accompanied by a decline in expressed support for refugees and increased discussions about religious minorities, particularly Islam.
Linking social media salience to voting behaviour, we analyse detailed voting data and document a significant rise in anti-immigration voting near newly established reception centers. This effect diminishes over time and with distance from the centers.
Furthermore, we show that areas with a strong initial salience response to refugees drive increased support for anti-immigration parties, while areas with high pre-existing refugee salience exhibit no such increase in anti-immigration votes.
Registration
To participate, please send an email to: ae-secr@ese.eur.nl
