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Urbanization Patterns, Information Diffusion, and Female Voting in Rural Paraguay

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  • Alberto Chong
  • Gianmarco León‐Ciliotta
  • Vivian Roza
  • Martín Valdivia
  • Gabriela Vega

Abstract

We use a field experiment to evaluate the impact of two informational get‐out‐the‐vote campaigns to boost female electoral participation in rural areas of Paraguay. We find that public rallies had a small and insignificant effect either on registration or voter turnout in the 2013 presidential elections. Households that received door‐to‐door canvassing treatment were 4.6 percentage points more likely to vote. Experimental variation on the intensity of the treatment at the locality level allows us to estimate spillover effects, which are present in localities that are geographically more concentrated, which may favor social interactions and diffusion of information. Reinforcement effects on the already treated population are twice as large as diffusion effects on the untreated. Our results underscore the importance of taking into account urbanization patterns when designing informational campaigns.

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  • Alberto Chong & Gianmarco León‐Ciliotta & Vivian Roza & Martín Valdivia & Gabriela Vega, 2019. "Urbanization Patterns, Information Diffusion, and Female Voting in Rural Paraguay," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 63(2), pages 323-341, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:63:y:2019:i:2:p:323-341
    DOI: 10.1111/ajps.12404
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    Cited by:

    1. Mariella Gonzales & Gianmarco León-Ciliotta & Luis R. Martínez, 2022. "How Effective Are Monetary Incentives to Vote? Evidence from a Nationwide Policy," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 293-326, January.
    2. León, Gianmarco, 2017. "Turnout, political preferences and information: Experimental evidence from Peru," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 56-71.
    3. Elisa Mougin, 2021. "Three essays in the political economy of information [Trois essais en économie politique de l’information]," SciencePo Working papers Main tel-03537938, HAL.
    4. Zucco, Cesar & Lenz, Anna-Katharina & Goldszmidt, Rafael & Valdivia, Martin, 2020. "Face-to-face vs. virtual assistance to entrepreneurs: Evidence from a field experiment in Brazil," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    5. Velásquez, Daniel & Medina, Santiago & Yamada, Gustavo & Lavado, Pablo & Nunez-del-Prado, Miguel & Alatrista-Salas, Hugo & Morzán, Juandiego, 2020. "I read the news today, oh boy: The effect of crime news coverage on crime perception," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    6. Mougin, Elisa, 2024. "TV in times of political uncertainty: Evidence from the 2017 elections in Kenya," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    7. 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.
    8. Elisa Mougin, 2021. "Three essays in the political economy of information [Trois essais en économie politique de l’information]," SciencePo Working papers tel-03537938, HAL.
    9. Firoz Ahmed & Roland Hodler & Asad Islam, 2024. "Partisan Effects of Information Campaigns in Competitive Authoritarian Elections: Evidence from Bangladesh," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(660), pages 1303-1330.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East
    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations

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