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Small Campaign Donors

Author

Listed:
  • Laurent Bouton
  • Julia Cagé
  • Edgard Dewitte
  • Vincent Pons

Abstract

We assemble the first comprehensive dataset on small campaign donors in the U.S. from 2005 to 2020, leveraging the fact that small, previously unobservable contributions now largely flow through fundraising platforms required to report them. Although the number of small donors has surged, their aggregate contributions have not grown faster than large donors’. Small donors are more representative of the population but remain disproportionately white and affluent. They support similar candidates as large donors, do not target competitive races more, and are more reactive to salient events and political advertising. We conclude that they are unlikely to transform U.S. elections.

Suggested Citation

  • Laurent Bouton & Julia Cagé & Edgard Dewitte & Vincent Pons, 2022. "Small Campaign Donors," NBER Working Papers 30050, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30050
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    Cited by:

    1. Waldfogel, Sarah, 2025. "Recovering voice through out-of-district donations," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    2. Parmigiani, Alberto, 2025. "Campaign contributions and legislative behavior: Evidence from U.S. Congress," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    3. Crutzen, Benoît S.Y. & Flamand, Sabine, 2023. "Leaders, factions and the determinants of electoral success," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    4. Deniz Igan & Thomas Lambert & Prachi Mishra & Eden Quxian Zhang, 2025. "The Politics of the Paycheck Protection Program," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(4), pages 1083-1122.
    5. Karol, Stephanie, 2025. "Taking from charity? Political contributions and the market for charitable funds," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • M37 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Advertising
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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