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Is there a selection bias in roll call votes? Evidence from the European Parliament

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  • Hix, Simon
  • Noury, Abdul
  • Roland, Gerard

Abstract

We examine the magnitude and significance of selection bias in roll call votes. Prior to 2009, all recorded (roll call) votes in the European Parliament had to be requested explicitly by European Political Groups. Since 2009, a roll call vote has been mandatory on all final legislative votes. We exploit that change in the rules and compare differences between final legislative votes, amendment votes and non-legislative votes before and after 2009, using a difference-in-differences approach with extensive controls. Using data from the Sixth (2004–2009) to Seventh (2009–2014) European Parliaments, we fail to find any large differences in voting cohesion for the main political groups. We find even less significance when we control for changes in parliamentary membership between those two periods. The results suggest that selection biases in the European Parliament associated with strategic choices are negligible.

Suggested Citation

  • Hix, Simon & Noury, Abdul & Roland, Gerard, 2018. "Is there a selection bias in roll call votes? Evidence from the European Parliament," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 87696, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
  • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:87696
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    Cited by:

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    2. Teodóra Szép & Sander Cranenburgh & Caspar Chorus, 2024. "Moral rhetoric in discrete choice models: a Natural Language Processing approach," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 179-206, February.
    3. Tanja A. Börzel & Philipp Broniecki & Miriam Hartlapp & Lukas Obholzer, 2023. "Contesting Europe: Eurosceptic Dissent and Integration Polarization in the European Parliament," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 1100-1118, July.
    4. Fang-Yi Chiou & Silje SL Hermansen & Bjørn Høyland, 2020. "Delegation of committee reports in the European Parliament," European Union Politics, , vol. 21(2), pages 233-254, June.
    5. Sara Norrevik, 2021. "Foreign economic policy in the European Parliament and economic interdependence with foreign powers," European Union Politics, , vol. 22(4), pages 700-720, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    roll call votes; European Parliament; party disclosure; natural experiment; difference in difference estimation;
    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
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State
    • P48 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Legal Institutions; Property Rights; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Regional Studies

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