Love Thy Neighbour? Brexit and Hate Crime

Arbeitspapier

We provide causal evidence of the impact of the Brexit referendum vote on hate crime in the United Kingdom (UK). Using various data sources, including unique data collected from the UK Police Forces by Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, and various estimation methods (difference-in-differences, event-study analysis and synthetic control methods), we find that the Brexit referendum led to an increase in hate crime by around 15-25%. This effect was concentrated in the first quarter after the referendum and was larger in areas that voted to leave the European Union (EU). We also provide evidence against the hypotheses that this was due to victims' greater willingness to report crimes or due to changes in police behaviour and perceptions of the victims. We also present suggestive evidence that the media and social media played a small but significant role in the increase in hate crime.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 13902

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior ; Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination ; Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
• Subject: hate crime ; referendum vote ; Brexit ; synthetic control method

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Carr, Joel ; Clifton-Sprigg, Joanna ; James, Jonathan ; Vujic, Suncica
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2020

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/232654
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET