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Electoral Systems and Inequalities in Government Interventions

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  • Micael Castanheira De Moura
  • Laurent Bouton
  • Garance Génicot

Abstract

This paper studies the political determinants of inequalities in government interventions under majoritarian (MAJ) and proportional representation (PR) systems. We propose a probabilistic voting model of electoral competition with highly targetable government interventions and heterogeneous localities. We uncover a novel relative electoral sensitivity effect that affects government interventions only under MAJ systems. This effect tends to reduce inequality in government interventions under MAJ systems when districts are composed of sufficiently homogeneous localities. This effect goes against the conventional wisdom that MAJ systems are necessarily more conducive to inequality than PR systems. We illustrate the empirical relevance of our results with numerical simulations on possible reforms of the U.S. Electoral College.

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  • Micael Castanheira De Moura & Laurent Bouton & Garance Génicot, 2021. "Electoral Systems and Inequalities in Government Interventions," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/324653, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    • Handle: RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/324653
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    2. Galasso, Vincenzo & Nunnari, Salvatore, 2019. "The Economic Effects of Electoral Rules: Evidence from Unemployment Benefits," Quarterly Journal of Political Science, now publishers, vol. 14(3), pages 259-291, July.
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    4. Jacopo Bizzotto & Benjamin Solow, 2019. "Electoral Competition with Strategic Disclosure," Games, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-17, July.
    5. Moya Chin, 2023. "When Do Politicians Appeal Broadly? The Economic Consequences of Electoral Rules in Brazil," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(3), pages 183-209, July.

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    Keywords

    Distributive Politics; Electoral Systems; Electoral College; PublicGood; Inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General
    • H00 - Public Economics - - General - - - General

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