Conceptualizing Voter Choice for Directional and Discounting Models of Two-Candidate Spatial Competition in Terms of Shadow Candidates

Merrill, Samuel, and Bernard Grofman

Public Choice, 1998, vol. 95, issue 3-4, 219-31

Abstract: In contrast to the traditional modeling of voter choice based on proximity, under directional models, selection of candidates is based on the direction and/or intensity of change from a status quo or neutral point. Voter choice can also be modeled as representing both approaches, e.g., as a directional model with proximity restraint, or alternatively, in terms of proximity to discounted positions. The authors provide a unified perspective for these seemingly disparate models in terms of what they call 'shadow' positions. The authors demonstrate that voter choice in a variety of spatial models including directional components can be viewed as proximity-based choices. Voters choose the candidate whose shadow is nearer, where shadow locations are defined by a simple transformation. They apply this approach to equilibrium analysis, showing that results for a discounted proximity model can be carried over--via shadows--to a variety of directional models. Copyright 1998 by Kluwer Academic Publishers

Date: 1998
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