Party Influence in Congress and the Economy

Erik Snowberg, Justin Wolfers and Eric Zitzewitz

Quarterly Journal of Political Science, 2007, vol. 2, issue 3, 277-286

Abstract: To understand the extent to which partisan majorities in Congress influence economic policy, we compare financial market responses in recent midterm elections to Presidential elections. We use prediction markets that track election outcomes as a means of precisely timing and calibrating the arrival of news, allowing substantially more precise estimates than a traditional event study methodology. We find that equity values, oil prices, and Treasury yields are slightly higher with Republican majorities in Congress, and that a switch in the majority party in a chamber of Congress has an impact that is only 10%–30% of that of the Presidency. We also find evidence inconsistent with the popular view that divided government is better for equities, finding instead that equity valuations increase monotonically, albeit slightly, with the degree of Republican control.

Keywords: Prediction markets; Event studies; Congressional elections; Political parties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G13 G14 H00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (24)

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Working Paper: Party Influence in Congress and the Economy (2006)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:now:jlqjps:100.00006060

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