Habit Formation in Voting: Evidence from Rainy Elections

Thomas Fujiwara, Kyle Meng and Tom Vogl

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2016, vol. 8, issue 4, 160-88

Abstract: We estimate habit formation in voting--the effect of past on current turnout--by exploiting transitory voting cost shocks. Using county-level data on US presidential elections from 1952-2012, we find that rainfall on current and past election days reduces voter turnout. Our estimates imply that a 1-point decrease in past turnout lowers current turnout by 0.6-1.0 points. Further analyses suggest that habit formation operates by reinforcing the direct consumption value of voting and that our estimates may be amplified by social spillovers.

JEL-codes: D72 D83 N42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
Note: DOI: 10.1257/app.20140533
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (71)

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