Voting when Money and Morals Conflict - An Experimental Test of Expressive Voting

Jean-Robert Tyran

University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2002 from Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen

Abstract: Moral considerations may matter much in voting because the costs of expressing support for a morally worthy cause may be low in a referendum. These costs depend on whether a voter expects to affect the outcome of the referendum. To test the low-cost theory of expressive voting, we experimentally investigate a proposal to tax everyone and donate tax revenues. The analysis of expectations and voting decisions shows that expressive voting is common. However, the low-cost theory fails to explain voting decisions. Instead of affecting the costs of expressive voting, expectations appear to affect its benefits.

Keywords: Expressive voting; low-cost theory; laboratory experiments. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 C9 D72 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2002-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm and nep-exp
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Voting when money and morals conflict: an experimental test of expressive voting (2004)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:usg:dp2002:2002-07

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