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The Effect of Information on Voter Turnout: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

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  • David Dreyer Lassen

    (Institute of Economics, University of Copenhagen)

Abstract

Do better informed people vote more? Recent theories of voter turnout emphasize a positive effect of being informed on the propensity to vote, but the possibility of endogenous information acquisition makes estimation of causal effects difficult. I estimate the causal effects of being informed on voter turnout using unique data from a natural experiment Copenhagen referendum on decentralization. Four of fifteen districts carried out a pilot project, exogenously making pilot city district voters more informed about the effects of decentralization. Empirical estimates based on survey data confirm a sizeable and statistically significant causal effect of being informed on the propensity to vote.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics in its series EPRU Working Paper Series with number 04-03.

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Length: 43 pages
Date of creation: Jan 2004
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:kud:epruwp:04-03

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Related research

Keywords: voter turnout; information and voting; political participation; natural experiment;

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