Master's Thesis: Economics or Identity? A Meta-Study of the Principal Determinants of Brexit

Abstract

After the Brexit referendum of June 2016 scholars have tried to determine the roots of the vote for leave. Some observers argue that economic factors were key determinants of Brexit, whereas other researchers consider cultural/identity variables as the main causes of the leave vote. This debate forms part of a broader dispute on the factors associated with the growing importance of Eurosceptic populist politics in WesternEurope. In fact, Brexit is widely considered by scholars as an example of the rise of populism (Inglehart and Norris, 2016). This argument takes two basic forms: the Economic Insecurity Thesis (Rodrick, 2018; Boeri, 2018) and the Cultural Insecurity Thesis (Inglehart and Norris, 2016).

Firstly, this thesis concludes that both set of variables influenced the vote for leave, through a Meta-Study of different research on the principal determinants of Brexit. Secondly, it assesses which studies are the most robust. Finally, it stresses the importance of the interaction between economic and cultural variables in influencing the vote for leave.