2025/08/20 by Andrés Rodríguez‐Pose, Zhuoying You, Peter Teirlinck · 1 voice · 6 citations
Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Business #Economic geography #Economics #Extreme right #Green innovation #Industrial organization #Political science #Politics #Populism, Right-Wing Movements #Regional science #Sociology #Sustainability and Climate Change Governance #Youth Education and Societal Dynamics
paper · doi:10.1016/j.respol.2025.105307
published in Research Policy 54(9), 105307 (Elsevier BV)
openalex publication_date 2025/08/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/03
This paper explores the relationship between support for extreme political parties and research and innovation across regions in the European Union (EU). Extreme parties often exhibit deep scepticism towards expertise and science, with extreme right-wing parties, in particular, challenging the legitimacy of climate change; an attitude that may weaken green research and innovation. We draw on data from 1137 EU regions —including scientific publication and patent records— and apply Tobit regression models to find that stronger support for extreme parties is associated with lower levels of scientific research and technological innovation, both overall and in their green forms. While this pattern is visible across the political spectrum, important differences emerge. Support for extreme right-wing parties is consistently tied to reduced research output and innovation performance, particularly in green technological sectors. By contrast, the relationship with extreme left-wing support is more variable, depending on the degree of radicalism, and shows no consistent negative connection with green innovation.