Electoral bias and policy choice: theory and evidence

Timothy Besley () and Ian Peter Preston ()

No W06/03, IFS Working Papers from Institute for Fiscal Studies

Abstract: This paper develops a new approach to study how electoral bias in favor of one party due to the pattern of districting affects policy choice. We tie a commonly used measure of districting bias to the theory of party competition and show how this affects policy choice in theory. The utility of the approach is illustrated using data on local government in the U.K. The results suggest that reducing electoral bias leads parties to moderate their policies.

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Related works:
Working Paper: Electoral bias and policy choice: theory and evidence (2007)
Working Paper: Electoral Bias and Policy Choice:Theory and Evidence (2006)
Journal Article: Electoral Bias and Policy Choice: Theory and Evidence (2007)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:06/03

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