The Energy Transition and Support for the Radical Right: Evidence from the Netherlands

2024/03/11 by Erik Voeten · 2 voices · 12 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Social Sciences · #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Political Influence and Corporate Strategies #Populism, Right-Wing Movements

paper · pdf · doi:10.1177/00104140241237468

openalex publication_date 2024/03/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25

Abstract

Energy transition policies often have distributional effects that could have electoral consequences. I study this issue in the context of a Dutch policy change that increased taxes on household natural gas consumption and redistributed the revenues as subsidies for renewables. Radical right parties were the only source of political opposition. A Differences-in-Differences (DiD) analysis with panel data from 2007-2020 shows that after the policy change renters with individualized utility bills became 5–6 percentage points more likely to vote for the radical right compared to renters with utilities included in their rents. Renters with individualized utility bills also became relatively less sympathetic towards the Green party and more concerned about price increases but they did not alter their left-right self-placements nor their views on immigration or the European Union. A secondary analysis finds similar effects for individuals (including home-owners) who are energy poor. This suggests an emerging economically rooted political cleavage over energy transition policies.

Citations

• Two-Way Fixed Effects Estimators with Heterogeneous Treatment Effects
• Economic Insecurity and the Causes of Populism, Reconsidered
• Interests, Norms and Support for the Provision of Global Public Goods: The Case of Climate Co-operation
• How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?
• The Trade Origins of Economic Nationalism: Import Competition and Voting Behavior in Western Europe
• Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing
• The Causal Effect of Radical Right Success on Mainstream Parties’ Policy Positions: A Regression Discontinuity Approach
• The Surge of Economic Nationalism in Western Europe

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Discussions

• New article "The Energy Transition and Support for the Radical Right: Evidence from the Netherlands" now out at @cps_journal doi.org/10.1177/0010... [bsky, 4 points, 0 comments]
• Schon letztes Jahr online publiziert aber neu aufgenommen: Eric Voeten analysiert die Wechselwirkungen zwischen der Energiewende und Unterstützung für die extreme Rechte in den Niederlanden: doi.org/ [bsky, 1 points, 1 comments]

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