Cash Transfer and Voter Turnout

Alexander James, Nathaly Rivera and Brock Smith

Working Papers from University of Chile, Department of Economics

Abstract: We estimate the effect of cash transfers on voter turnout, leveraging a large-scale natural experiment, the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) program, which provides residents with a check of varying size one month before election day. We find that larger transfers cause people to vote, especially in gubernatorial elections in which a 10% increase in cash ($182) causes a 1.4 percentage point increase in turnout. Effects are concentrated among racial minorities, the young, and poor. There is little evidence that transfers reduce logistical costs of voting, but rather operate by reducing voter apathy among the low-income electorate.

Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2022-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-pol and nep-ure
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Working Paper: Cash Transfers and Voter Turnout (2022)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:udc:wpaper:wp536

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