hide
Free keywords:
Growth models, voting, preferences, competitiveness, exports, wages
Abstract:
This article examines the relationship between national growth models and voters’ economic preferences. We theorise that centre-left voters are cross-pressured between a demand for higher wages and concerns about competitiveness, but the impact varies by growth model: the more a country is export-led, the more the competitiveness motive is internalised, moderating worker demands for wage increases. As a result, we expect a convergence in preferences between centre-left and centre-right voters as the reliance on export-led growth increases. We corroborate these claims through three sets of empirical analyses: a cross-sectional analysis of individual wage dissatisfaction in nineteen Western countries, a panel analysis of wage dissatisfaction in a typical export-led (Germany) and a typical consumption-led economy (UK), and an analysis of preferences for export-led growth in these two countries. Our findings contribute to the emerging literature on the politics of growth models and the waning of economic conflict in advanced capitalist democracies.
