Personal Returns to Authoritarian Loyalty: Material Benefits from Supporting the Nazi Regime

Abstract

What economic benefits do individuals derive from supporting autocratic regimes? We address this question by examining members of the German Nazi Party (NSDAP) between 1920 and 1945. We expect that early joiners were more likely to gain personally than those who joined after the Nazis came to power. However, existing micro-level quantitative data from Nazi Germany do not allow researchers to follow individual NSDAP members over time or lacks non-NSDAP members as a control group. Therefore, we draw on novel individual-level longitudinal data from denazification questionnaires (Fragebogen) collected in Germany’s U.S. occupation zone between 1945 and 1949. These records provide detailed information on organizational memberships, occupational trajectories, income, and socio-demographics. Using a staggered difference-in-differences design, we estimate the effects of joining the NSDAP on income and the likelihood of obtaining public sector employment. We find that party membership increased subsequent income, with the strongest effects among early joiners, who were also more likely to enter public service. The project contributes to broader understandings of the material trade-offs individuals face when deciding whether to join political organizations under autocratic rule.

Victor Gay

Professor of Economics

Professor at the Toulouse School of Economics (TSE) and at the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST), University of Toulouse 1 Capitole.