The empirics of the median voter: democracy, redistribution and the role of the middle class

Francesco Scervini

No 516, LIS Working papers from LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg

Abstract: The paper investigates the effectiveness of the median voter as a decisive agent in the process of redistribution. According to the previous literature, it tests several assumptions finding interesting results: The positive relation between inequality and redistribution is confirmed, but the median voter theorem seems not to be the driving force of this mechanism. Even if some results support the median voter hypotheses, many others go in the opposite direction. Moreover, results are in support of the presence of a political bias toward rich classes, particularly in non established democracies. Finally, the elasticity of redistribution to poor classes to their income has decreased over the last decade, suggesting a reduction of the policies in support of low income individuals.

Keywords: income distribution; cash redistribution; political process; median voter theorem (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D72 H42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2010-03
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in The Journal of Economic Inequality 10, no. 4 (2011): 529-550

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Related works:
Journal Article: Empirics of the median voter: democracy, redistribution and the role of the middle class (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:lis:liswps:516

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