Social Preferences and Voting: An Exploration Using a Novel Preference Revealing Mechanism
Public referenda are frequently used to determine the provision of public goods. As public programs have distributional consequences, a compelling question is what role if any social preferences have on voting behavior. This paper explores this issue using laboratory experiments wherein voting outcomes lead to a known distribution of net benefits across participants. Preferences are elicited using a novel Random Price Voting Mechanism (RPVM), which is a more parsimonious mechanism than dichotomous choice referenda, but gives consistent results. Results suggest that social preferences, in particular a social efficiency motive, lead to economically meaningful deviations from self-interested voting choices and increase the likelihood that welfare-enhancing programs are implemented.
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Paper provided by Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management in its series Working Papers with number
51132.
| Length: | |
| Date of creation: | 18 Jul 2008 |
| Handle: | RePEc:ags:cudawp:51132 |
| Contact details of provider: | Postal: Warren Hall, Ithaca NY 14853 Fax: 607-255-9984 Web page: http://aem.cornell.edu/ More information through EDIRC
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