Immigration and institutional change: Did mass immigration cause peronism in argentina?
This paper studies the relationship between mass immigration in Argentina and the rise of Juan D. Perón (the iconic Argentine populist leader) in the mid-20th century. We find no evidence suggesting that mass immigration to Argentina from 1876 through 1925 explains Peronism directly or indirectly, such as through a reaction to immigrants or their descendants. Instead, a weak institutional framework and domestic conditions independent of immigrants’ role in Argentine economics and society explain Peronism's rise.