Concurrent elections and turnout: Causal estimates from a German quasi-experiment

Sebastian Garmann

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2016, vol. 126, issue PA, 167-178

Abstract: Conventional wisdom suggests that scheduling elections concurrently with other contests increases turnout. However, causal empirical evidence in favor of this claim is scarce, at best. Moreover, it is a priori unclear whether theory would predict a higher turnout if two low-office elections are combined instead of a combination of a low-office election and a major electoral race. Using a quasi-experiment and a difference-in-differences estimation approach at the German municipality-level, I provide evidence that combining two low-office elections significantly increases turnout.

Keywords: Election timing; Concurrent elections; Voter turnout; Local governments; Difference-in-differences approach (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 C26 D71 D72 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (19)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:126:y:2016:i:pa:p:167-178

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2016.03.013

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