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Voting and Popularity

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  • Kirchgässner, Gebhard

Abstract

For about 45 years, vote and popularity functions have been estimated for many countries indicating that voting intentions as well as actual votes are influenced by economic development. The economy is, of course, not the only and probably not always the most important factor, but there is no doubt anymore that it is an important factor. The most relevant variables are still unemployment, and/or real growth, and inflation. The estimated coefficients vary considerably between countries and time periods. In papers, retrospective sociotropic voting dominates. However, the evidence is not so univocal; it rather tells that voting has egotropic as well as sociotropic aspects, and it is prospective as well as retrospective. It is still open what roles self-interest and altruism play in voting.

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  • Kirchgässner, Gebhard, 2016. "Voting and Popularity," Economics Working Paper Series 1618, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:usg:econwp:2016:18
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Vote and Popularity Function; Egotropic and Sociotropic Voting; Retrospective and Prospective Voting; Rational Voters’ Behavior;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H19 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Other
    • H89 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - Other

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