Vall-Prat, Pau2022-07-052022-07-052022-06-060010-4140https://hdl.handle.net/2445/187325What are the origins of elite splits? Why do regional elites break away from central elites and develop regional parties? This paper contends that intra-elite differences are more likely to be politicized when an economic shock exacerbates pre-existing asymmetric economic preferences and disadvantaged elites can mobilize the electorate on the basis of identity. I employ constituency-level data from Catalonia spanning the late 19th and early 20th century to test which factors influenced regional elite decisions to form a regional elite political party. To understand elite divisions, I exploit a historical exogenous trade shock and its asymmetric impact within Catalonia, and the availability of identity-based mobilization agents. The results show that regional elite splits took place in areas more affected by the 1898 colonial trade shock and where elites had larger mobilization capacity.application/pdfeng(c) Vall-Prat, Pau, 2022Elit (Ciències socials)Política regionalGeografia econòmicaCrisisPolítica comercialCiències polítiquesElite (Social sciences)Economic zoningEconomic geographyCrisesCommercial policyPolitical scienceinfo:eu-repo/semantics/article7239132022-07-05info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess