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Voting from abroad: Assessing the impact of local turnout on migrants’ voting behavior

Author

Listed:
  • Dev, Divya
  • Poblete-Cazenave, Rubén
  • Toppeta, Alessandro

Abstract

Over 150 countries have laws allowing expatriate citizens to vote in their country of origin. Yet, little is known about their voting behavior and how this is affected by their host countries. Using unique micro-data on Chilean expatriates living in Europe and exploiting increases in the cost of voting caused by rainfall during the 2014 European Parliament election day in districts where Chileans reside, we show that 1 percentage point increase in the host-country local turnout decreases expatriates’ electoral participation in their home-country elections by nearly 1 percentage point. The result is driven by expatriates who were better integrated in the host-country societies. Evidence from surveys shows that higher host turnout promotes expatriates’ participation in host-country organizations and less in home-country organizations. Overall, our results suggest that in communities with high-political participation, migrants engage more with the local politics at the expense of their home-country politics.

Suggested Citation

  • Dev, Divya & Poblete-Cazenave, Rubén & Toppeta, Alessandro, 2024. "Voting from abroad: Assessing the impact of local turnout on migrants’ voting behavior," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 663-678.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:52:y:2024:i:3:p:663-678
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2024.05.001
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Migration; Elections; Voting; Turnout; Expatriates; Assimilation; Rainfall;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • P48 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Legal Institutions; Property Rights; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Regional Studies
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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