Explanipedia

The Local Politics of Social Investment Under Fiscal Constraints: The Case of Childcare Expansion in Germany Open

Erik Neimanns, Björn Bremer · 2025

Governments in many of the advanced economies expanded childcare, an exemplary social investment policy, in recent years. Yet, considerable regional variation exists in expansion efforts, and often the supply of childcare still does not ma…

Partisan cueing and preferences for fiscal integration in the European Union Open

Maurits J. Meijers, Björn Bremer, Theresa Kuhn, Francesco Nicoli · 2025

Contains fulltext : 320145.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)

Taxing Uber-Polluters: Carbon Inequality and Support for Wealth Taxation to Finance the Green Transition Open

Leo Ahrens, Björn Bremer, Lukas Hakelberg · 2025

Carbon inequality implies that wealthy individuals contribute more to climate change than asset-poor indi-viduals, which is primarily driven by higher levels of consumption and investment in carbon-intensive in-dustries. Yet the prevailing…

The Local Politics of Social Investment Under Fiscal Constraints: The Case of Childcare Expansion in Germany Open

Erik Neimanns, Björn Bremer · 2025

Embedded in a broader discourse on future-oriented social policy and the idea of a social investment welfare state, governments in many of the advanced economies expanded childcare in recent years. Yet, in many countries considerable regio…

Partisan Cueing and Preferences for Contentious European Integration Steps Open

Maurits J. Meijers, Björn Bremer, Theresa Kuhn, Francesco Nicoli · 2025

Can political parties steer public preferences for highly contested issues? European integration has become increasingly politicized, forcing governments to heed constituents’ preferences during international negotiations. Existing researc…

High Sovereign Debt and Social Solidarity in Advanced Economies Open

Björn Bremer, Charlotte Cavaillé, Lisanne de Blok, Catherine E. De Vries · 2024

To keep borrowing costs down, indebted governments strive to signal their commitment to fiscal discipline. As a result, relatively low debt-servicing costs coexistwith preemptive fiscal adjustments and pessimistic rhetoric regarding the co…

The Electoral Consequences of Centrist Policies Open

Björn Bremer · 2024

Preferences for growth strategies in advanced democracies: A new ‘representation gap’? Open

Lucio Baccaro, Björn Bremer, Erik Neimanns · 2024

While research on the economic characteristics of growth models across countries is now extensive, research on their politics is in its infancy, even though governments routinely pursue different strategies to generate growth. In particula…

Lower taxes at all costs? Evidence from a survey experiment in four European countries Open

Björn Bremer, Reto Bürgisser · 2024

It is commonly argued that citizens favour lower taxes, thereby exerting pressure for tax reductions that undermine the ability of governments to raise revenues. We argue that the ostensibly strong support for lower taxes is the result of …

Closer during crises? European identity during the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine Open

Francesco Nicoli, David van der Duin, Roel Beetsma, Björn Bremer, Brian Burgoon , et al. · 2024

Contains fulltext : 309562.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)

The Electoral Consequences of Centrist Policies: Fiscal Consolidations and the Fate of Social Democratic Parties Open

Björn Bremer · 2024

This is a chapter from the edited volume "Beyond Social Democracy: The Transformation of the Left in Emerging Societies", edited by Silja Häuserman and Herbert Kitschelt. Abstract: In the last few decades, many moderate left parties adopte…

In this together? Support for European fiscal integration in the COVID-19 crisis Open

Björn Bremer, Theresa Kuhn, Maurits J. Meijers, Francesco Nicoli · 2023

\n Contains fulltext :\n 293157.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)\n

Lower Taxes At All Costs? Evidence from a Survey Experiment in Four European Countries Open

Björn Bremer, Reto Bürgisser · 2022

It is commonly assumed that voters favor lower taxes, which undermines the ability of governments to raise revenues. How does the demand for lower taxes change when it involves fiscal trade-offs? Who supports tax cuts at all costs? We use …

Partisan Cueing and Preferences for Fiscal Integration in the European Union Open

Maurits J. Meijers, Björn Bremer, Theresa Kuhn, Francesco Nicoli · 2022

To what extent can political parties steer public preferences for highly contested issues such as fiscal integration in the European Union? European integration has become increasingly politicized, forcing governments to heed constituents’…

Strategic interdependence and preferences for debt mutualization in the eurozone Open

Lucio Baccaro, Björn Bremer, Erik Neimanns · 2022

Existing research argues that a 'democratic constraint' blocks the path towards fiscal integration in the eurozone: Voters in creditor countries are fundamentally opposed to debt sharing, while voters in debtor countries are unwilling to l…

Fiscal policy preferences, trade-offs, and support for social investment Open

Björn Bremer, Marius R. Busemeyer · 2022

A common finding in the literature is that social investment policies are broadly popular among citizens but still politically difficult to implement. This article provides a partial answer to this puzzle by exploring the fiscal trade-offs…

Who still likes social democracy? The support base of social democratic parties reconsidered Open

Björn Bremer, Line Rennwald · 2022

Social democratic parties have experienced a profound electoral crisis in recent years. We study who still supports the centre-left by analysing two different ties to social democracy: vote choice and party identification. We develop a sim…

Replication Data for: Fiscal Policy Preferences, Trade-Offs, and Support for Social Investment Open

Björn Bremer, Marius R. Busemeyer · 2022

A common finding in the literature is that social investment policies are broadly popular among citizens, but still politically difficult to implement. This paper provides a partial answer to this puzzle by exploring the fiscal trade-offs …

The constrained politics of local public investment under cooperative federalism Open

Björn Bremer, Donato Di Carlo, Leon Wansleben · 2022

Public investment spending declined steadily in advanced economies during the last three decades. Germany is a case in point where the aggregate decline coincided with growing inequality in investments across districts. What explains the v…

Public opinion on welfare state recalibration in times of austerity: evidence from survey experiments Open

Björn Bremer, Reto Bürgisser · 2022

Even though social investment is highly popular, welfare state recalibration remains an uphill battle. When resources are scarce in times of austerity, welfare recalibration involves multidimensional trade-offs. Existing research primarily…

Do citizens care about government debt? Evidence from survey experiments on budgetary priorities Open

Björn Bremer, Reto Bürgisser · 2022

Ever since the Great Recession, public debt has become politicised. Some research suggests that citizens are fiscally conservative, while other research shows that they punish governments for implementing fiscal consolidation. This begs th…

Replication Data for: Public Opinion on Welfare State Recalibration inTimes of Austerity: Evidence from Survey Experiments Open

Björn Bremer, Reto Bürgisser · 2021

Even though social investment is highly popular, welfare state recalibration remains an uphill battle. When resources are scarce in austere times, welfare recalibration involves multidimensional trade-offs. Existing research primarily stud…

Opposition to austerity outweighs support for the euro in Italy Open

Lucio Baccaro, Björn Bremer, Erik Neimanns · 2021

Could a new financial crisis, brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, lead to Italy’s exit from the eurozone? Lucio Baccaro, Björn Bremer and Erik Neimanns present evidence from a new survey experiment on Italian attitudes toward a European b…

Strategic Interdependence and Preferences for Debt Mutualization in the Eurozone Open

Lucio Baccaro, Björn Bremer, Erik Neimanns · 2021

Existing research argues that a “democratic constraint” blocks the path towards fiscal integration in the eurozone: Voters in creditor countries are fundamentally opposed to debt sharing, while voters in debtor countries are unwilling to l…

Till austerity do us part? A survey experiment on support for the euro in Italy Open

Lucio Baccaro, Björn Bremer, Erik Neimanns · 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic worsened Italy’s fiscal outlook by increasing public debt. If interest rates were to rise, it would become more likely that Italy experiences a financial crisis and requires a European bailout. How does making EU fund…

In This Together? Support for European Fiscal Integration in the COVID-19 Crisis Open

Björn Bremer, Theresa Kuhn, Maurits J. Meijers, Francesco Nicoli · 2021

European fiscal integration is highly controversial and is assumed to lead to a Euroskeptic backlash among the public. Yet, in a historical decision in July 2020, European governments agreed on the ambitious recovery package ‘Next Generati…

The Effect of Austerity Packages on Government Popularity During the Great Recession Open

Ábel Bojár, Björn Bremer, Hanspeter Kriesi, Chendi Wang · 2021

During the Great Recession, governments across the continent implemented austerity policies. A large literature claims that such policies are surprisingly popular and have few electoral costs. This article revisits this question by studyin…

Replication Data for: The Effect of Austerity Packages on Government Popularity during the Great Recession Open

Ábel Bojár, Björn Bremer, Hanspeter Kriesi, Chendi Wang · 2020

During the Great Recession, governments across the continent implemented austerity policies. A large literature claims that such policies are surprisingly popular and have few electoral costs. This article revisits this question by studyin…

The EU Can Improve the Political Sustainability of Next Generation EU by Making it a Long-Term Structure Open

Björn Bremer, Theresa Kuhn, M.J. Maurits, Francesco Nicoli · 2020

Concerns about a populist, Eurosceptic backlash have long been an obstacle to the fiscal integration of the EU. This column uses a new survey fielded in five countries – France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain – to measure the v…

Electoral Punishment and Protest Politics in Times of Crisis Open

Björn Bremer, Swen Hutter, Hanspeter Kriesi · 2020

This chapter links the political consequences of the Great Recession on protest and electoral politics. The economic voting literature offers important insights on how and under what conditions economic crises play out in the short run. Ho…

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