Changing Demography by Changing Democracy. Welfare and Fertility under Proxy Voting for Children

Federico Boffa (), Tommaso Reggiani (), Matteo Rizzolli () and Federico Trombetta ()
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Federico Boffa: Free University of Bozen, IRCRES/CNR, Collegio Carlo Alberto
Tommaso Reggiani: Cardiff University, Masaryk University, IZA
Matteo Rizzolli: LUMSA University, Rome, Italy
Federico Trombetta: DISEIS, Universita' Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy

No wphurf02, HURfuture Working Papers from HURfuture - Human Relations for the Future Research Center

Abstract: Proxy voting on behalf of children (also known as Demeny voting) has been proposed as a measure to contrast demographic decline in low-fertility countries. We study the effects of Demeny voting on fertility and budget allocation in the context of a probabilistic voting model. Citizens can vote to allocate the budget between either the production of a public good that results in immediate benefits for the present generation, or investment in a future-oriented public good that benefits the productivity of newborn children and society as a whole over time. Fertility is endogenous and disagreements arise between parents and non-parents over public spending. We show that proxy voting, by acting as a commitment device towards pro-children policies, increases fertility, future-oriented spending, such as early childhood investment and universal child care, and, under some conditions, increases long-term welfare for non-parents, thereby generating a Pareto improvement.

Keywords: Demeny voting; proxy voting; fertility; democracy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 H31 H52 H63 I25 J13 J18 K16 Q01 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 53 pages
Date: 2026-07
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