Pub Date : 2025-03-08DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2025.102662
Jiajun Han , Yuan Zhang
Once education is devoid of liberty-related concepts, like civil liberty and nonconformity, could it still change attitudes to homosexuality, especially in developing countries? Using China's enactment of compulsory schooling laws in the 1980s, which shaped noticeable kinks with less evident jumps in educational attainment across cohorts, this paper shows that an improvement in education increased tolerance towards homosexuality, measured in the 2010s, by employing a regression probability jump and kink design. Assessing distributional effects, the marginal treatment effect approach suggests the liberalizing effects of secondary education are most pronounced for those with the highest resistance to high school completion. Furthermore, the education-boosted preference for internet usage, richness of cultural activities, gentler ambience of working and egalitarian gender view might underlie the potential mechanism.
{"title":"Education and tolerance towards Homosexuality—Evidence from China","authors":"Jiajun Han , Yuan Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2025.102662","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2025.102662","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Once education is devoid of liberty-related concepts, like civil liberty and nonconformity, could it still change attitudes to homosexuality, especially in developing countries? Using China's enactment of compulsory schooling laws in the 1980s, which shaped noticeable kinks with less evident jumps in educational attainment across cohorts, this paper shows that an improvement in education increased tolerance towards homosexuality, measured in the 2010s, by employing a regression probability jump and kink design. Assessing distributional effects, the marginal treatment effect approach suggests the liberalizing effects of secondary education are most pronounced for those with the highest resistance to high school completion. Furthermore, the education-boosted preference for internet usage, richness of cultural activities, gentler ambience of working and egalitarian gender view might underlie the potential mechanism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51439,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Political Economy","volume":"87 ","pages":"Article 102662"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143600467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
China has experienced a remarkable rise in living standards over four decades of economic reforms, alongside a tremendous increase in inequalities. In this context, do Chinese people support redistribution of wealth gained through reform windfalls? To answer this question, we conducted an online survey experiment with a nationally representative sample from China (N = 2,000). The treatment group was shown examples of wealth acquired through typical reform-era pathways requiring minimal ability or effort. This exposure led to a 0.1 standard deviation decrease in their support for redistribution. We propose a “reform windfall as redistribution” mechanism to explain this reduction: the treated group perceives the reform era as inherently redistributive, providing opportunities to escape systemic inequalities tied to the political system, thereby reducing the perceived need for formal redistribution. This decline in support is not driven by changes in fairness perceptions, as respondents do not attribute the wealth acquisition scenarios to ability or effort, nor do they view them as distinctly fair or unfair. Furthermore, we find limited evidence of heterogeneity, with one exception: individuals reporting higher economic pressure show an even greater reduction in redistributive support when exposed to the treatment. We hypothesize that this occurs because unmet expectations for upward mobility exacerbate their reactions to the treatment scenarios.
{"title":"Reform windfall as redistribution: A survey experiment on redistributive preferences in contemporary China","authors":"Margot Belguise , Nora Yuqian Chen , Yuchen Huang , Zhexun Mo","doi":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2025.102651","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2025.102651","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>China has experienced a remarkable rise in living standards over four decades of economic reforms, alongside a tremendous increase in inequalities. In this context, do Chinese people support redistribution of wealth gained through reform windfalls? To answer this question, we conducted an online survey experiment with a nationally representative sample from China (<em>N</em> = 2<em>,</em>000). The treatment group was shown examples of wealth acquired through typical reform-era pathways requiring minimal ability or effort. This exposure led to a 0.1 standard deviation decrease in their support for redistribution. We propose a “reform windfall as redistribution” mechanism to explain this reduction: the treated group perceives the reform era as inherently redistributive, providing opportunities to escape systemic inequalities tied to the political system, thereby reducing the perceived need for formal redistribution. This decline in support is not driven by changes in fairness perceptions, as respondents do not attribute the wealth acquisition scenarios to ability or effort, nor do they view them as distinctly fair or unfair. Furthermore, we find limited evidence of heterogeneity, with one exception: individuals reporting higher economic pressure show an even greater reduction in redistributive support when exposed to the treatment. We hypothesize that this occurs because unmet expectations for upward mobility exacerbate their reactions to the treatment scenarios.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51439,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Political Economy","volume":"87 ","pages":"Article 102651"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143527090","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-23DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2025.102649
Ivo Bischoff, Sourav Das, Reinhold Kosfeld
We ask whether inter-municipal cooperation serve as a platform by which municipalities coordinate tax policies and reduce the intensity of tax competition. Specifically, we focus on inter-municipal cooperation in form of inter-local industrial parks. We apply the case study-oriented synthetic control method (SCM) to analyze the causal impact of 12 inter-local industrial parks on municipal tax-setting behavior using data on municipalities from West-German states of Hesse and North Rhine Westphalia between 2000 and 2018. We find evidence that inter-local industrial parks lead to tax coordination in some occasions but not in others. Our ex post analysis suggests that tax coordination only takes place in specific political constellations.
{"title":"Does inter-municipal cooperation reduce the intensity of tax competition? Evidence on inter-local industrial parks in Germany","authors":"Ivo Bischoff, Sourav Das, Reinhold Kosfeld","doi":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2025.102649","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2025.102649","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We ask whether inter-municipal cooperation serve as a platform by which municipalities coordinate tax policies and reduce the intensity of tax competition. Specifically, we focus on inter-municipal cooperation in form of inter-local industrial parks. We apply the case study-oriented synthetic control method (SCM) to analyze the causal impact of 12 inter-local industrial parks on municipal tax-setting behavior using data on municipalities from West-German states of Hesse and North Rhine Westphalia between 2000 and 2018. We find evidence that inter-local industrial parks lead to tax coordination in some occasions but not in others. Our ex post analysis suggests that tax coordination only takes place in specific political constellations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51439,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Political Economy","volume":"87 ","pages":"Article 102649"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143600552","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Social media allow political campaigns to reach specific groups of voters with unprecedented precision, yet the effect on voting behaviour of this political micro-targeting is still uncertain. To identify this effect we match survey data with a novel indicator of Facebook political ads intensity, based on audience-specific ad prices and collected during the 2016 US presidential campaign. We find that being exposed to Facebook micro-targeted ads reduced the likelihood of persuading Democrat respondents to cast the ballot in favour of the Democrat candidate and, on the other hand, it increased the likelihood of persuading Republicans and residents of traditionally red or swing states to switch their vote in favour of Mr Trump. A counterfactual analysis exercise exploring the effect on voter mobilisation and persuasion of varying the intensity of political campaigning on Facebook confirms that Trump was the primary beneficiary of micro-targeted ad campaigns on Facebook.
{"title":"Politics in the facebook era. Evidence from the 2016 US presidential elections","authors":"Federica Liberini , Michela Redoano , Antonio Russo , Angel Cuevas , Ruben Cuevas","doi":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2025.102641","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2025.102641","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Social media allow political campaigns to reach specific groups of voters with unprecedented precision, yet the effect on voting behaviour of this political micro-targeting is still uncertain. To identify this effect we match survey data with a novel indicator of Facebook political ads intensity, based on audience-specific ad prices and collected during the 2016 US presidential campaign. We find that being exposed to Facebook micro-targeted ads reduced the likelihood of persuading Democrat respondents to cast the ballot in favour of the Democrat candidate and, on the other hand, it increased the likelihood of persuading Republicans and residents of traditionally red or swing states to switch their vote in favour of Mr Trump. A counterfactual analysis exercise exploring the effect on voter mobilisation and persuasion of varying the intensity of political campaigning on Facebook confirms that Trump was the primary beneficiary of micro-targeted ad campaigns on Facebook.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51439,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Political Economy","volume":"87 ","pages":"Article 102641"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143628136","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2024.102620
Niklas Potrafke
To which extent does business experience of politicians influence economic policies and economic outcomes? I review the new empirical literature which examines this question. The survey encompasses the literature on business politicians at the national, sub-national and local level. The results show that business politicians were active in promoting globalization and market-oriented economic reforms and influenced budget composition. Business politicians prioritized public investment expenditure and increased spending on infrastructure, roads and transport. They decreased spending on public consumption and transfers. The market-oriented policies translated into effects on economic outcomes. In the US states, for example, market-oriented policies of business politicians increased economic growth. Future research should examine how businesspeople in parliament influence economic policies and outcomes and employ survey experiments to investigate voters’ perceptions of business politicians.
{"title":"The economic consequences of businesspeople in politics: A survey","authors":"Niklas Potrafke","doi":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2024.102620","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2024.102620","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To which extent does business experience of politicians influence economic policies and economic outcomes? I review the new empirical literature which examines this question. The survey encompasses the literature on business politicians at the national, sub-national and local level. The results show that business politicians were active in promoting globalization and market-oriented economic reforms and influenced budget composition. Business politicians prioritized public investment expenditure and increased spending on infrastructure, roads and transport. They decreased spending on public consumption and transfers. The market-oriented policies translated into effects on economic outcomes. In the US states, for example, market-oriented policies of business politicians increased economic growth. Future research should examine how businesspeople in parliament influence economic policies and outcomes and employ survey experiments to investigate voters’ perceptions of business politicians.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51439,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Political Economy","volume":"86 ","pages":"Article 102620"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143170587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2025.102650
Federico Carril-Caccia
This paper quantifies the effects of economic sanctions on bilateral cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) using a gravity model. It examines (1) the direct impact of sanctions on M&As from the sanctioning to the sanctioned country; (2) whether a significant share of M&As employs transit countries to circumvent sanctions; and (3) the heterogeneous effects of sanctions on M&As, considering whether they are imposed by a coalition of countries, the income levels of the sanctioning and sanctioned countries, as well as by sector and by type of restrictions imposed by sanctions. The results indicate that sanctions lead to a 13.5% reduction in bilateral M&As, and that the role of transit countries in circumventing them is limited. The negative effect is more pronounced when sanctions are imposed by a coalition of countries or target low-to-middle-income countries. The effects vary significantly across sectors and types of sanctions. At the sectoral level, the mining and quarrying, and manufacturing sectors are less affected compared to others. Sanctions that combine restrictions on trade, financial flows, and travel have the most severe impact, reducing the number of M&A projects by between 55% and 76%.
{"title":"The impact of economic sanctions on bilateral mergers and acquisitions","authors":"Federico Carril-Caccia","doi":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2025.102650","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2025.102650","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper quantifies the effects of economic sanctions on bilateral cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) using a gravity model. It examines (1) the direct impact of sanctions on M&As from the sanctioning to the sanctioned country; (2) whether a significant share of M&As employs transit countries to circumvent sanctions; and (3) the heterogeneous effects of sanctions on M&As, considering whether they are imposed by a coalition of countries, the income levels of the sanctioning and sanctioned countries, as well as by sector and by type of restrictions imposed by sanctions. The results indicate that sanctions lead to a 13.5% reduction in bilateral M&As, and that the role of transit countries in circumventing them is limited. The negative effect is more pronounced when sanctions are imposed by a coalition of countries or target low-to-middle-income countries. The effects vary significantly across sectors and types of sanctions. At the sectoral level, the mining and quarrying, and manufacturing sectors are less affected compared to others. Sanctions that combine restrictions on trade, financial flows, and travel have the most severe impact, reducing the number of M&A projects by between 55% and 76%.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51439,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Political Economy","volume":"86 ","pages":"Article 102650"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143170596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2024.102637
Eline Moens , Dyllis De Pessemier , Stijn Baert
Although unequal treatment of workers based on political affiliation is prohibited in many countries, it is conspicuously understudied in the discrimination literature. In this study, we set up a vignette experiment with genuine recruiters to provide more insight into the effect of political engagement in job applicants on the assessment of their resumes by these professionals. We find that, overall, recruiters view an applicant as less creative, open-minded, empathetic and emotionally sensitive when a political engagement is expressed. These stigma are greater for candidates with a right-wing nationalist commitment. Relatedly, these candidates are assessed worse in terms of overall hireability and perceived inclination or taste among employers, colleagues and customers to collaborate with them. They are, however, seen as somewhat more assertive. In contrast to research conducted in one- or two-party systems, we do not find interactions with the political preference of the recruiter herself/himself. Overall, the effect of mentioning a political engagement in a resume is more negative when the required education level of the vacancy is high.
{"title":"How do recruiters assess applicants who express a political engagement?","authors":"Eline Moens , Dyllis De Pessemier , Stijn Baert","doi":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2024.102637","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2024.102637","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although unequal treatment of workers based on political affiliation is prohibited in many countries, it is conspicuously understudied in the discrimination literature. In this study, we set up a vignette experiment with genuine recruiters to provide more insight into the effect of political engagement in job applicants on the assessment of their resumes by these professionals. We find that, overall, recruiters view an applicant as less creative, open-minded, empathetic and emotionally sensitive when a political engagement is expressed. These stigma are greater for candidates with a right-wing nationalist commitment. Relatedly, these candidates are assessed worse in terms of overall hireability and perceived inclination or taste among employers, colleagues and customers to collaborate with them. They are, however, seen as somewhat more assertive. In contrast to research conducted in one- or two-party systems, we do not find interactions with the political preference of the recruiter herself/himself. Overall, the effect of mentioning a political engagement in a resume is more negative when the required education level of the vacancy is high.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51439,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Political Economy","volume":"86 ","pages":"Article 102637"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143170599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2024.102639
Miriam Hortas-Rico , Ernesto Rodríguez-Crespo
This paper adds new evidence to the existing literature on institutions and well-being. In particular, we examine how women's political empowerment relates to subjective well-being and how this relationship is mediated by institutional quality. Drawing on data from 84 world countries for the period 2006–2019, several interesting findings arise from our results. First, there exists a positive relationship between women's political empowerment and subjective well-being, with the dimension of political representation exhibiting a predominant role. Second, the relationship between women's political inclusion and subjective well-being is mediated by the average quality of government, suggesting the existence of a positive interplay between both explanatory variables. Finally, the role played by institutional quality is contingent on the dimensions of governance considered, since only corruption control and government effectiveness are positive and significantly associated to subjective well-being.
{"title":"How does women's political empowerment relate to subjective well-being? The moderating role of institutional quality","authors":"Miriam Hortas-Rico , Ernesto Rodríguez-Crespo","doi":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2024.102639","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2024.102639","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper adds new evidence to the existing literature on institutions and well-being. In particular, we examine how women's political empowerment relates to subjective well-being and how this relationship is mediated by institutional quality. Drawing on data from 84 world countries for the period 2006–2019, several interesting findings arise from our results. First, there exists a positive relationship between women's political empowerment and subjective well-being, with the dimension of political representation exhibiting a predominant role. Second, the relationship between women's political inclusion and subjective well-being is mediated by the average quality of government, suggesting the existence of a positive interplay between both explanatory variables. Finally, the role played by institutional quality is contingent on the dimensions of governance considered, since only corruption control and government effectiveness are positive and significantly associated to subjective well-being.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51439,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Political Economy","volume":"86 ","pages":"Article 102639"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143170593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2024.102633
Friedrich Heinemann , Justus Nover , Paul Steger
State-owned enterprises (SOEs) provide opportunities for a more flexible and market-based provision of public services. At the same time, they may impair fiscal transparency and offer politicians discretion in the presence of strict fiscal rules if these only constrain the core budget. Using a comprehensive micro-data set of German SOEs, this paper studies a possible impact of the German debt brake on SOEs by tracking changes in financial indicators at the firm level that would hint to a circumvention of the rule. The identification exploits that the mounting compliance pressures over the lagged implementation of the debt brake from 2010 to 2020 differs across the 16 states. The results show that SOEs in fiscally more constrained states exhibit a stronger decrease in equity and reserves and a higher increase in debt compared to SOEs in less constrained states and the shorter the distance to the 2020 deadline. This result is based on a combined sample of state and municipal SOEs, a finding pointing towards the vertical spillover of a fiscal rule.
{"title":"State-owned enterprises, fiscal transparency, and the circumvention of fiscal rules: The case of Germany","authors":"Friedrich Heinemann , Justus Nover , Paul Steger","doi":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2024.102633","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2024.102633","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>State-owned enterprises (SOEs) provide opportunities for a more flexible and market-based provision of public services. At the same time, they may impair fiscal transparency and offer politicians discretion in the presence of strict fiscal rules if these only constrain the core budget. Using a comprehensive micro-data set of German SOEs, this paper studies a possible impact of the German debt brake on SOEs by tracking changes in financial indicators at the firm level that would hint to a circumvention of the rule. The identification exploits that the mounting compliance pressures over the lagged implementation of the debt brake from 2010 to 2020 differs across the 16 states. The results show that SOEs in fiscally more constrained states exhibit a stronger decrease in equity and reserves and a higher increase in debt compared to SOEs in less constrained states and the shorter the distance to the 2020 deadline. This result is based on a combined sample of state and municipal SOEs, a finding pointing towards the vertical spillover of a fiscal rule.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51439,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Political Economy","volume":"86 ","pages":"Article 102633"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143170588","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We experimentally study voter turnout in two-tier elections when the electorate consists of multiple groups, such as states. Votes are aggregated within the groups by the winner-take-all rule or the proportional rule, and the group-level decisions are combined to determine the winner. We observe that, compared with the theoretical prediction, turnout is significantly lower in the minority camp (the Titanic effect) and significantly higher in the majority camp (the behavioral bandwagon effect), and these effects are stronger under the proportional rule than under the winner-take-all rule. As a result, the distribution of voter welfare becomes more unequal than theoretically predicted, and this welfare effect is stronger under the proportional rule than under the winner-take-all rule.
{"title":"Jumping on the bandwagon and off the Titanic: An experimental study of turnout in two-tier voting","authors":"Yoichi Hizen , Kazuya Kikuchi , Yukio Koriyama , Takehito Masuda","doi":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2025.102646","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2025.102646","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We experimentally study voter turnout in two-tier elections when the electorate consists of multiple groups, such as states. Votes are aggregated within the groups by the winner-take-all rule or the proportional rule, and the group-level decisions are combined to determine the winner. We observe that, compared with the theoretical prediction, turnout is significantly lower in the minority camp (the <em>Titanic effect</em>) and significantly higher in the majority camp (the <em>behavioral bandwagon effect</em>), and these effects are stronger under the proportional rule than under the winner-take-all rule. As a result, the distribution of voter welfare becomes more unequal than theoretically predicted, and this welfare effect is stronger under the proportional rule than under the winner-take-all rule.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51439,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Political Economy","volume":"86 ","pages":"Article 102646"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143349912","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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