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Corruption and Voter Participation

Author

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  • Monica Escaleras
  • Peter T. Calcagno
  • William F. Shughart II

Abstract

The literature on voter turnout focuses on the determinants of the electorate’s vote supply. There is growing recognition, however, that the demanders of votes—candidates, political parties, and interest groups—have strong incentives to invest resources in mobilizing support on Election Day. The authors test the hypothesis that corruption rents increase the value of holding public office and, hence, elicit greater demand-side effort in building winning coalitions. Analyzing a pooled time-series data set of public officials convicted of misusing their offices between 1979 and 2005, we find, after controlling for other influential factors, that governmental corruption raises voter turnout rates in gubernatorial elections.

Suggested Citation

  • Monica Escaleras & Peter T. Calcagno & William F. Shughart II, 2012. "Corruption and Voter Participation," Public Finance Review, , vol. 40(6), pages 789-815, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:pubfin:v:40:y:2012:i:6:p:789-815
    DOI: 10.1177/1091142112446846
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Kauder, Björn & Potrafke, Niklas, 2015. "Just hire your spouse! Evidence from a political scandal in Bavaria," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 42-54.
    2. Nadia Fiorino & Nicola Pontarollo & Roberto Ricciuti, 2017. "Supra National, National and Regional Dimensions of Voter Turnout in European Parliament Elections," JRC Research Reports JRC108755, Joint Research Centre.
    3. Niklas Potrafke & Felix Roesel, 2019. "A banana republic? The effects of inconsistencies in the counting of votes on voting behavior," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 178(1), pages 231-265, January.
    4. Albert Solé-Ollé & Pilar Sorribas-Navarro, 2014. "Does Corruption Erode Trust in Government? Evidence from a Recent Surge of Local Scandals in Spain," CESifo Working Paper Series 4888, CESifo Group Munich.
    5. Paulo Arvate & Sergio Mittlaender, 2017. "Condemning corruption while condoning inefficiency: an experimental investigation into voting behavior," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 172(3), pages 399-419, September.
    6. Elena Costas-Pérez, 2014. "Political corruption and voter turnout: mobilization or disaffection?," Working Papers 2014/27, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    7. Lacombe, Donald J. & Coats, R. Morris & Shughart II, William F. & Karahan, Gökhan, 2016. "Corruption and Voter Turnout: A Spatial Econometric Approach," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 46(2), December.
    8. Albert Solé-Ollé & Pilar Sorribas-Navarro, 2014. "Does corruption erode trust in government? Evidence from a recent surge of local scandals in Spain," Working Papers 2014/26, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    9. Andersen, Jørgen Juel & Heggedal, Tom-Reiel, 2019. "Political rents and voter information in search equilibrium," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 146-168.
    10. Omer Gokcekus & Sertac Sonan, 2017. "Political contributions and corruption in the United States," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(4), pages 360-372, October.
    11. Elena Costas-Pérez, 2014. "Political corruption and voter turnout: mobilization or disaffection?," Working Papers 2014/27, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).

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