Do sanctions strengthen the targeted regime? I analyze the 2014
imposition of Western sanctions on Russia and its impact on voting.
The US and the EU introduced targeted measures against Russian
entities and individuals related to Putin’s regime. Using polling
station-level data I investigate whether Putin gained relatively more
support among those local constituencies which were geographically
close to a sanctioned firm. I find a significant effect of targeted
sanction imposition on the vote share in presidential elections
between 2012 and 2018. Putin gained 1.54 percentage points at those
polling stations that had a sanctioned firm in immediate vicinity.
Targeted sanctions imposition also affected voter turnout. The effect
on voting can be explained as rally-around-the-flag in the face of
sanctions, as long as voters did not endure economic losses through
a decline in some sanctioned firms’ economic performance
