Voting When Money and Morals Conflict: An Experimental Test of Expressive Voting

U of St. Gallen Econ. Working Paper No. 2002-07

35 Pages Posted: 4 May 2002

See all articles by Jean-Robert Tyran

Jean-Robert Tyran

University of Vienna; University of Copenhagen - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: April 2002

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

JEL Classification: A13, C9, D72

Suggested Citation

Tyran, Jean-Robert, Voting When Money and Morals Conflict: An Experimental Test of Expressive Voting (April 2002). U of St. Gallen Econ. Working Paper No. 2002-07, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=307780 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.307780

Jean-Robert Tyran (Contact Author)

University of Vienna ( email )

Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1
Vienna, Vienna 1090
Austria

HOME PAGE: http://homepage.univie.ac.at/jean-robert.tyran/

University of Copenhagen - Department of Economics ( email )

Øster Farimagsgade 5
Bygning 26
1353 Copenhagen K.
Denmark
+45 353 23 027 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.econ.ku.dk/tyran/

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

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