Voters and the IMF: Experimental Evidence from European Crisis Countries

Autor(en)

Evelyne Hübscher, Thomas Sattler, Markus Wagner

Abstrakt

IMF interventions are often associated with rising political discontent in
countries where the Fund intervenes. Studies examining this relationship,
however, face the challenge of disentangling the impact of the IMF from the
impact of the crisis that triggered the intervention. To address this challenge,
we conduct survey experiments in Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain and
directly assess how voters evaluate the costs and benefits of an IMF intervention. We find that voters believe that the crisis will more likely be solved
when the IMF intervenes, but they are also critical of the corresponding loss of
national sovereignty. Because the former consideration, on average, dominates their assessment, IMF interventions increase the support of voters for
unpopular economic policies. Nonetheless, cross-country differences suggest
that continued public support for intervention hinges on the IMF’s ability to
deliver on its promise to help resolve the crisis.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Staatswissenschaft

Externe Organisation(en)

Universität Genf, Central European University Vienna

Journal

Comparative Political Studies

Band

57

Seiten

1870-1901

Anzahl der Seiten

32

ISSN

0010-4140

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1177/00104140231204229

Publikationsdatum

09-2024

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

506014 Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Sociology and Political Science

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/ac4385a2-4786-4750-b068-b9ef7a4393e5