Highway to Hitler
Copyright policy )Highway to Hitler
We show that the building of the Autobahn network in Nazi Germany boosted popular support for Adolf Hitler, helping to entrench the Nazi dictatorship. Direct local economic benefits are unlikely to explain the effect. Instead, it reflects successful propaganda: The regime portrayed the Autobahn as a symbol of recovery and the end of austerity. Support rose particularly strongly where highway construction coincided with greater radio availability and in politically unstable regions. Our findings suggest that visible infrastructure projects can raise support for autocratic regimes when voters are led to associate them with economic progress and an end to political instability. (JEL D72, E32, H54, N44, N94, R42, R53)
- UNIVERSITAET ZUERICH Switzerland
- Univerisity of Zurich Finland
- Economic Policy Institute United States
- National Bureau of Economic Research United States
- University of California, Los Angeles United States
N44, Deutsches Reich, Infrastrukturpolitik, Nationalsozialismus, pork-barrel politics, Autobahn, political economy, ECON Department of Economics, political economy, infrastructure spending, establishment of dictatorships, pork-barrel politics, Nazi regime, 10007 Department of Economics, infrastructure spending, dictatorships, H54, Nazi regime, ddc:330, N94, Politische Ökonomie, Infrastruktur, Political economy, infrastructure spending, establishment of dictatorships, pork-barrel politics, Nazi regime, P16, Drittes Reich, establishment of dictatorships; infrastructure spending; Nazi regime; political economy; pork-barrel politics, 330 Economics, Diktatur, Political economy, pork‐barrel politics, establishment of dictatorships, jel: jel:N44, jel: jel:N94, jel: jel:H54, jel: jel:P16
N44, Deutsches Reich, Infrastrukturpolitik, Nationalsozialismus, pork-barrel politics, Autobahn, political economy, ECON Department of Economics, political economy, infrastructure spending, establishment of dictatorships, pork-barrel politics, Nazi regime, 10007 Department of Economics, infrastructure spending, dictatorships, H54, Nazi regime, ddc:330, N94, Politische Ökonomie, Infrastruktur, Political economy, infrastructure spending, establishment of dictatorships, pork-barrel politics, Nazi regime, P16, Drittes Reich, establishment of dictatorships; infrastructure spending; Nazi regime; political economy; pork-barrel politics, 330 Economics, Diktatur, Political economy, pork‐barrel politics, establishment of dictatorships, jel: jel:N44, jel: jel:N94, jel: jel:H54, jel: jel:P16
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