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How Effective Are Monetary Incentives to Vote? Evidence from a Nationwide Policy

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  • León-Ciliotta, Gianmarco
  • Martinez, Luis R.
  • Gonzales, Mariella

Abstract

We combine two natural experiments, multiple empirical strategies and administrative data to study voters' response to marginal changes to the fi ne for electoral abstention in Peru. A smaller fi ne leads to a robust decrease in voter turnout. However, the drop in turnout caused by a full fi ne reduction is less than 20% the size of that caused by an exemption from compulsory voting, indicating the predominance of the non-monetary incentives provided by the mandate to vote. Additionally, almost 90% of the votes generated by a marginally larger fi ne are blank or invalid, lending support to the hypothesis of rational abstention. Higher demand for information and larger long-run eff ects following an adjustment to the value of the fine point to the existence of informational frictions that limit adaptation to institutional changes.

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  • León-Ciliotta, Gianmarco & Martinez, Luis R. & Gonzales, Mariella, 2019. "How Effective Are Monetary Incentives to Vote? Evidence from a Nationwide Policy," CEPR Discussion Papers 13898, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13898
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    3. Bhatt, Rachana & Dechter, Evgenia & Holden, Richard, 2020. "Registration costs and voter turnout," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 91-104.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Voter turnout; Voter registration; Compulsory voting; Informational frictions; External validity; Peru;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D78 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation and Implementation
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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