The Swing Voter's Curse

Timothy J Feddersen and Wolfgang Pesendorfer ()

American Economic Review, 1996, vol. 86, issue 3, 408-24

Abstract: The authors analyze two-candidate elections in which some voters are uncertain about the realization of a state variable that affects the utility of all voters. They demonstrate the existence of a swing voter's curse: less informed indifferent voters strictly prefer to abstain rather than vote for either candidate even when voting is costless. The swing voter's curse leads to the equilibrium result that a substantial fraction of the electorate will abstain even though all abstainers strictly prefer voting for one candidate over voting for another. Copyright 1996 by American Economic Association.

Date: 1996
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