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Identification and Estimation of Preference Distributions When Voters Are Ideological, Second Version

Author

Listed:
  • Antonio Merlo

    (Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania)

  • Aureo de Paula

    (University College London, London, UK, Sao Paulo School of Economics-FGV, Sao Paulo, Brazil)

Abstract

This paper studies the nonparametric identification and estimation of voters’ preferences when voters are ideological. We establish that voter preference distributions and other parameters of interest can be identified from aggregate electoral data. We also show that these objects can be consistently estimated and illustrate our analysis by performing an actual estimation using data from the 1999 European Parliament elections.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonio Merlo & Aureo de Paula, 2010. "Identification and Estimation of Preference Distributions When Voters Are Ideological, Second Version," PIER Working Paper Archive 13-055, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, revised 13 Oct 2013.
    • Handle: RePEc:pen:papers:13-055
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Voting; Voronoi tessellation; identification; nonparametric;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General

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