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Temptation in vote-selling: Evidence from a field experiment in the Philippines

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  • Hicken, Allen
  • Leider, Stephen
  • Ravanilla, Nico
  • Yang, Dean

Abstract

We report the results of a randomized field experiment in the Philippines on the effects of two common anti-vote-selling strategies involving eliciting promises from voters. An invitation to promise not to vote-sell is taken up by most respondents, reduces vote-selling, and has a larger effect in races with smaller vote-buying payments. The treatment reduces vote-selling in the smallest-stakes election by 10.9 percentage points. Inviting voters to promise to “vote your conscience” despite accepting money is significantly less effective. The results are consistent with a behavioral model in which voters are only partially sophisticated about their vote-selling temptation.

Suggested Citation

  • Hicken, Allen & Leider, Stephen & Ravanilla, Nico & Yang, Dean, 2018. "Temptation in vote-selling: Evidence from a field experiment in the Philippines," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 1-14.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:131:y:2018:i:c:p:1-14
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2017.10.012
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    Cited by:

    1. Kao, Kristen & Lust, Ellen & Rakner, Lise, 2022. "Vote-buying, anti-corruption campaigns, and identity in African elections," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    2. Khemani, Stuti, 2015. "Buying votes versus supplying public services: Political incentives to under-invest in pro-poor policies," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 84-93.
    3. Larreguy, Horacio & Bowles, Jeremy, 2020. "Who Debates, Who Wins? At-Scale Experimental Evidence on the Supply of Policy Information in a Liberian Election," IAST Working Papers 20-112, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST).
    4. Anand Murugesan & Jean-Robert Tyran, 2023. "The Puzzling Practice of Paying “Cash for Votes”," CESifo Working Paper Series 10504, CESifo.
    5. Cruz, Cesi & Keefer, Philip & Labonne, Julien, 2016. "Incumbent Advantage, Voter Information and Vote Buying," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 7730, Inter-American Development Bank.
    6. Schilling, Linda, 2023. "Voters, Bailouts, and the Size of the Firm," MPRA Paper 117921, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Gedion Onyango, 2021. "Whistleblower protection in developing countries: a review of challenges and prospects," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(12), pages 1-30, December.
    8. Dalia Littman & Scott E. Sherman & Andrea B. Troxel & Elizabeth R. Stevens, 2022. "Behavioral Economics and Tobacco Control: Current Practices and Future Opportunities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-10, July.
    9. Cesi Cruz & Philip Keefer & Julien Labonne, 2016. "Incumbent Advantage, Voter Information and Vote Buying," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 94877, Inter-American Development Bank.
    10. Leight, Jessica & Foarta, Dana & Pande, Rohini & Ralston, Laura, 2020. "Value for money? Vote-buying and politician accountability," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    11. Jeremy Bowles & Horacio Larreguy, 2019. "Who Debates, Who Wins? At-Scale Experimental Evidence on Debate Participation in a Liberian Election," CID Working Papers 375, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    12. Bobonis, Gustavo & Gertler, Paul & Gonzalez-Navarro, Marco & Nichter, Simeon, 2023. "Does Combating Corruption Reduce Clientelism?," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt13k514pd, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    13. Hodler, Roland & Ahmed, Firoz & Islam, Asad, 2020. "Voting or abstaining in "managed" elections? A field experiment in Bangladesh," CEPR Discussion Papers 14608, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Schilling, Linda, 2023. "Voters, Bailouts, and the Size of the Firm," MPRA Paper 118146, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Schechter, Laura & Vasudevan, Srinivasan, 2023. "Persuading voters to punish corrupt vote-buying candidates: Experimental evidence from a large-scale radio campaign in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    16. Schilling, Linda, 2020. "On the (Ir)relevance of Firm Size for Bail-outs under Voter-Neutrality: The Case of Foreign Stakeholders," CEPR Discussion Papers 15508, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Reddy Sai Shiva & Kausik Gangopadhyay, 2018. "Temptation in purchasing decision: A Quasi Experiment to Validate the Set Betweenness axiom," Working papers 268, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Vote-selling; Vote-buying; Temptation; Self-control; Commitment; Elections; Political economy; Philippines;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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