VOTE-BUYING AND GROWTH

Hans Gersbach and Felix Mühe

Macroeconomic Dynamics, 2011, vol. 15, issue 5, 656-680

Abstract: Vote-buying is widely used by parties in developing countries to influence the outcome of elections. We examine the impact of vote-buying on growth. We consider a model with a poverty trap where redistribution can promote growth. We show that vote-buying contributes to the persistence of poverty as taxed wealthy people buy votes from poor people. We then show that there exists a democratic constitution that breaks vote-buying and promotes growth. Such a constitution involves rotating agenda setting, a taxpayer-protection rule, and repeated voting. The latter rule makes vote-buying prohibitively costly.

Date: 2011
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Working Paper: Vote-Buying and Growth (2008)
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