Identity Mobilisation and Elite Cues: A Survey Experiment on Public Support for International Fiscal Transfers in the EU

One of the most far-reaching consequences of the Euro crisis is that governments of affluent EU member states now employ substantive financial resources for guarantees and bailouts of their neighbors in economic distress. However, under what conditions do citizens consider transnational fiscal transfers, bailout packages, and multilateral rescue mechanisms a legitimate use of their taxes? A new literature on support for transnational fiscal transfers in Europe finds relatively little variation in citizens' views on international fiscal transfers and European economic governance. However, it might well be that political identities and ideological orientations only become decisive once mobilized for or against fiscal transfers. Therefore, I assess the role of identity and elite mobilization using an experimental research design. Data comes from an online survey answered by a probability sample of German web users (accessed through a German polling firm).