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Youth Enfranchisement, Political Responsiveness and Education Expenditure: Evidence from the U.S

Author

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  • Bertocchi, Graziella

    (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia)

  • Dimico, Arcangelo

    (Queen's University Belfast)

  • Lancia, Francesco

    (University of Salerno)

  • Russo, Alessia

    (Norwegian Business School (BI))

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of preregistration laws on government spending in the U.S. Preregistration allows young citizens to register before being eligible to vote and has been introduced in different states in different years. Employing a difference-in-differences regression design, we first establish that preregistration shifts state-level government spending toward expenditure on higher education. The magnitude of the increase is larger when political competition is weaker and inequality is higher. Second, we document a positive effect of preregistration on state-provided student aid and its number of recipients by comparing higher education institutions within border-county pairs. Lastly, using individual-level data on voting records, we show that preregistration promotes a de facto youth enfranchisement episode. Consistent with a political economy model of distributive politics, the results collectively suggest strong political responsiveness to the needs of the newly-enfranchised constituent group.

Suggested Citation

  • Bertocchi, Graziella & Dimico, Arcangelo & Lancia, Francesco & Russo, Alessia, 2017. "Youth Enfranchisement, Political Responsiveness and Education Expenditure: Evidence from the U.S," IZA Discussion Papers 11082, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11082
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Assar Lindbeck & Jörgen Weibull, 1987. "Balanced-budget redistribution as the outcome of political competition," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 273-297, January.
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    6. David S. Lee & Enrico Moretti & Matthew J. Butler, 2004. "Do Voters Affect or Elect Policies? Evidence from the U. S. House," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(3), pages 807-859.
    7. Graziella Bertocchi & Arcangelo Dimico & Francesco Lancia & Alessia Russo, 2020. "Youth Enfranchisement, Political Responsiveness, and Education Expenditure: Evidence from the US," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(3), pages 76-106, August.
    8. Raghabendra Chattopadhyay & Esther Duflo, 2004. "Women as Policy Makers: Evidence from a Randomized Policy Experiment in India," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 72(5), pages 1409-1443, September.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Stahl, Jörg R., 2023. "Changes in the electorate and firm values: Evidence from the introduction of female suffrage in Switzerland," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 386-402.
    2. Graziella Bertocchi & Arcangelo Dimico & Francesco Lancia & Alessia Russo, 2020. "Youth Enfranchisement, Political Responsiveness, and Education Expenditure: Evidence from the US," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(3), pages 76-106, August.
    3. Clemens, Jeffrey & Veuger, Stan, 2021. "Politics and the distribution of federal funds: Evidence from federal legislation in response to COVID-19," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    4. Klien, Michael & Melki, Mickael & Pickering, Andrew, 2021. "Voter turnout and intergenerational redistribution," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 603-626.
    5. Anna Maria Koukal & Patricia Schafer & Reiner Eichenberger, 2020. "The Trade-off between Deepening and Broadening of Democracy Lessons from Youth Enfranchisement," CREMA Working Paper Series 2020-16, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    6. Ole Henning Nyhus & Bjarne Strøm, 2019. "School spending and extension of the youth voting franchise: Evidence from an experiment in Norway," Working Paper Series 17719, Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
    7. Funk, Patricia & Litschig, Stephan, 2020. "Policy choices in assembly versus representative democracy: Evidence from Swiss communes," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    8. Anna Maria Koukal & Marco Portmann, 2020. "Political Integration of Foreigners How does foreigners suffrage impact natives’ attitudes?," CREMA Working Paper Series 2020-05, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    9. Lo Prete, Anna & Sacchi, Agnese, 2023. "Civic engagement and government spending: Lessons from global warming," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 202319, University of Turin.
    10. Nyhus, Ole Henning & Strøm, Bjarne, 2023. "School spending and extension of the youth voting franchise: Quasi-experimental evidence from Norway," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    11. Ole Henning Nyhus & Bjarne Strøm, 2023. "Young Voters and Budget Deficits," CESifo Working Paper Series 10388, CESifo.
    12. Sabet, Navid & Winter, Christoph, 2024. "Immigrant legalization and the redistribution of state funds: Evidence from the 1986 IRCA," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    13. Glomm, Gerhard & Raghav, Manu, 2024. "Patterns in State Funding of Public Higher Education: Demography, Ideology, Educational Attainment, and Trends," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1541, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    14. Bhatt, Rachana & Dechter, Evgenia & Holden, Richard, 2020. "Registration costs and voter turnout," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 91-104.
    15. Cai, Jun & Zhao, Kui, 2024. "Uniform agricultural tax abolition and differential household labor supply: Evidence from China's urban household survey," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    voter turnout; preregistration; political responsiveness; education expenditure; youth enfranchisement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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