Project description
Why people support economic protectionism
Protectionist measures such as tariffs, subsidies and restrictions on labour migration can be used to support certain domestic industries. However, economists warn these policies can also slow economic growth and weaken international cooperation. In this context, the ERC-funded PROTECT project aims to explore why many citizens support policies that may ultimately cost them. It examines how local conditions shape attitudes toward protectionism using surveys from eight countries and new data on economic, environmental and social changes across subnational regions. The project will analyse how shifts such as job losses, industrial change or ecological pressures influence public opinion. The project aims to better understand the forces driving support for protectionist policies.
Objective
After a period of hyperglobalization, protectionist policies have become more entrenched over the past decade. States have produced a slew of domestic subsidies, tariffs, and labor migration policies––policies that can benefit certain industries, but are likely to curtail growth, employment, and multilateral economic cooperation. Why citizens support protectionism that is costly to them is a central puzzle in International Political Economy public opinion research.
Although no consensus has been reached to explain this puzzle, the field remains focused on the individual- and national-level determinants of attitude formation toward protectionism, missing subnational determinants in the process. Insights from economic geography pointing to the attitudinal effects of subnational factors, such as import shocks, have not been integrated. The overarching objective of PROTECT is to develop a comprehensive research agenda about the effects of subnational economic––and related, ecological and sociocultural––change on public support for protectionism.
First, PROTECT maps support for protectionism based on novel panel survey data drawn from representative samples of citizens in eight western and non-western countries. Second, it compiles and creates measures of subnational ecological, economic, and sociocultural change. Third, it leverages experimental, instrumental variables, and machine learning methods to establish when, how and why subnational change has a causal effect on public support for protectionism.
Overall, given the daunting cost of protectionism still on the rise, we urgently need to understand why some citizens support, while others oppose, protectionism. PROTECT will enable understanding the impact of subnational change on support for protectionism. This will reorient research in International Political Economy and related behavioral research fields to incorporate the subnational context, and provide an evidence base meant to engender better economic policy.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
10691 Stockholm
Sweden
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.