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Stock Ownership And Congressional Elections: The Political Economy Of The Mutual Fund Revolution

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  • JOHN V. DUCA
  • JASON L. SAVING

Abstract

We find that higher stock ownership rates are linked to an upward shift in the Republican share of the House popular vote since the late 1980s, consistent with theories that property interests affect voting. To proxy for discontinuous stock ownership rates, we use equity mutual fund costs, which have fallen, are negatively correlated with stock ownership rates and the Republican vote share in the long run, and help explain short‐run changes along with midterm elections, economic conditions, and presidential popularity. Findings suggest that the major parties’ shares of the House popular vote will fluctuate around 50% until other factors trigger a political realignment. (JEL D72, G11)

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  • John V. Duca & Jason L. Saving, 2008. "Stock Ownership And Congressional Elections: The Political Economy Of The Mutual Fund Revolution," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 46(3), pages 454-479, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecinqu:v:46:y:2008:i:3:p:454-479
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1465-7295.2007.00083.x
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    Cited by:

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    2. Markku Kaustia & Samuli Knüpfer & Sami Torstila, 2016. "Stock Ownership and Political Behavior: Evidence from Demutualizations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(4), pages 945-963, April.
    3. de Janvry, Alain & Gonzalez-Navarro, Marco & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 2014. "Are land reforms granting complete property rights politically risky? Electoral outcomes of Mexico's certification program," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 216-225.
    4. de Janvry, Alain & Gonzalez-Navarro, Marco & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 2012. "Why are land reforms granting complete property rights politically risky? Electoral outcomes of Mexico's certification program," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt54p345fx, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions

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