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Crisis and belief: confirmation bias and the behavioral political economy of recession

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  • Petrik Runst

Abstract

The link between crisis and permanent increases in public spending has been investigated from the perspective of interest groups, bureaucratic growth, etc., while a demand perspective, i.e. the question of changing voter preferences, has been ignored. Survey data suggests that individuals become temporarily more in favor of government intervention in the aftermath of an economic crisis. The relationship is tested by an experiment in which salience of economic crisis generates favorable attitudes toward intervention for crisis related and unrelated topics. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Petrik Runst, 2014. "Crisis and belief: confirmation bias and the behavioral political economy of recession," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 376-392, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:copoec:v:25:y:2014:i:4:p:376-392
    DOI: 10.1007/s10602-014-9167-x
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    Cited by:

    1. Adrian Chadi & Laszlo Goerke, 2023. "Seeking shelter in times of crisis? unemployment, perceived job insecurity and trade union membership," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(359), pages 1041-1088, July.
    2. Petrik Runst, 2017. "Nancy Bermeo and Larry M. Bartels (Eds.), Mass politics in tough times: Opinions, votes, and protest in the great recession," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 255-258, June.
    3. Petrik Runst, 2018. "Does Immigration Affect Demand for Redistribution? – An Experimental Design," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 19(4), pages 383-400, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Behavioral political economy; Voting; Political preferences; Confirmation bias; Z13; Z18; D03; H12;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
    • Z18 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Public Policy
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • H12 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Crisis Management

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