Optimal primaries

Patrick Hummel and Richard Holden

Journal of Public Economics, 2014, vol. 109, issue C, 64-75

Abstract: We analyze a model of US presidential primary elections for a given party. There are two candidates, one of whom is a higher quality candidate. Voters reside in m different states and receive noisy private information about the identity of the superior candidate. States vote in some order, and this order is chosen by a social planner. We provide conditions under which the ordering of the states that maximizes the probability that the higher quality candidate is elected is for states to vote in order from smallest to largest populations and most accurate private information to least accurate private information.

Keywords: Optimal primaries; Order of states; Social planning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Working Paper: Optimal Primaries (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:109:y:2014:i:c:p:64-75

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2013.10.001

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