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Are Voters More Likely to Contribute to Other Public Goods? Evidence from a Large‐Scale Randomized Policy Experiment

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  • Toby Bolsen
  • Paul J. Ferraro
  • Juan Jose Miranda

Abstract

Voting has been described as a contribution to a public good. Are people who vote frequently therefore more likely to contribute to other public goods? Does partisanship affect how likely a person is to engage in these cooperative behaviors? Although surveys suggest that the answer to these questions is “Yes,” few empirical studies examine these questions using observed behaviors. We examine them in the context of a large‐scale, randomized controlled trial to induce voluntary action in a common‐pool resource dilemma. During a drought in the southeastern United States, pro‐social messages that encouraged water conservation were randomly assigned to 35,000 out of 106,000 households. Frequent voters in primary and general elections (1990–2008) were substantially more responsive to the messages, but there was no detectable difference in the responses of Republican and Democrat households. Our results suggest that internalized pro‐social preferences promote action for the public good across behavioral contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Toby Bolsen & Paul J. Ferraro & Juan Jose Miranda, 2014. "Are Voters More Likely to Contribute to Other Public Goods? Evidence from a Large‐Scale Randomized Policy Experiment," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 58(1), pages 17-30, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:58:y:2014:i:1:p:17-30
    DOI: 10.1111/ajps.12052
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    Cited by:

    1. Bartscher, Alina Kristin & Seitz, Sebastian & Siegloch, Sebastian & Slotwinski, Michaela & Wehrhöfer, Nils, 2021. "Social capital and the spread of covid-19: Insights from european countries," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    2. Kamei, Kenju & Putterman, Louis & Tyran, Jean-Robert, 2023. "Civic engagement, the leverage effect and the accountable state," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    3. Endre Kildal Iversen & Kristine Grimsrud & Yohei Mitani & Henrik Lindhjem, 2022. "Altruist Talk May (also) Be Cheap: Revealed Versus Stated Altruism as a Predictor in Stated Preference Studies," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 83(3), pages 681-708, November.
    4. Michal Carrington & Andreas Chatzidakis & Helen Goworek & Deirdre Shaw, 2021. "Consumption Ethics: A Review and Analysis of Future Directions for Interdisciplinary Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(2), pages 215-238, January.
    5. Fosgaard, Toke R. & Hansen, Lars G. & Wengström, Erik, 2019. "Cooperation, framing, and political attitudes," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 416-427.
    6. Jason Soria & Shelly Etzioni & Yoram Shiftan & Amanda Stathopoulos & Eran Ben-Elia, 2022. "Microtransit adoption in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from a choice experiment with transit and car commuters," Papers 2204.01974, arXiv.org.
    7. Hsuan-Wei Lee & Yen-Ping Chang & Yen-Sheng Chiang, 2020. "Status hierarchy and group cooperation: A generalized model," Papers 2004.00944, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2020.

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