Next Economic Analysis Seminar Series
Next Monday 13th April 2026 at 12:00 P.M.
El próximo lunes 13 de abril tendremos un seminario impartido por Francisco Villamil (Universidad Carlos III) con el título "The consequences of grassroots human rights: Mass graves exhumations in Spain". El seminario tendrá lugar a las 12:00 en la Sala de Juntas 1 del Edificio 2.
Coautores: Paloma Aguilar, Fernando de la Cuesta, Abdelkarim Laglil
Many countries with a history of authoritarian rule or political violence employ Transitional Justice (TJ) policies in its aftermath. What impact do these policies have on democracy? While many arguments point to their effect on attitudinal factors, such as political polarization or reconciliation, previous empirical studies have mostly focused on macro-level outcomes and top-down policies. We explore how local activities related to TJ impact political outcomes at the local level. Building on recent advances in difference-in-differences methods, we analyze the local-level consequences of mass grave exhumations in Spain. We exploit the fact that exhumations took place in two different waves, a first one in a transitional context of political uncertainty and a second one in a context of consolidated democracy with institutional support. In line with previous studies on the effects of human rights policies, results show the exhumations increased fear and polarization during the first wave but contributed to TJ normalization in the second wave. This paper contributes to larger debates on the consequences of human rights policies and provides new evidence on an unexplored phenomenon.