Non-Consequentialist Voting

Shayo, Moses; Harel, Alon

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1592206

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Non-Consequentialist Voting

35 Pages Posted: 19 Apr 2010 Last revised: 15 Apr 2015

See all articles by Moses Shayo

Moses Shayo

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Department of Economics

Alon Harel

Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Faculty of Law

Date Written: Revised: March 6, 2011

Abstract

Standard theory assumes that voters' preferences over actions (voting) are induced by their preferences over electoral outcomes (policies, candidates). But voters may also have non-consequentialist (NC) motivations: they may care about how they vote even if it does not affect the outcome. When the likelihood of being pivotal is small, NC motivations can dominate voting behavior. To examine the prevalence of NC motivations, we design an experiment that exogenously varies the probability of being pivotal yet holds constant other features of the decision environment. We find a significant effect, consistent with at least 12.5% of subjects being motivated by NC concerns.

Keywords: Elections, Democracy, Expressive voting, Social preferences, Extended preferences

JEL Classification: C91, D01, D63, D72

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Shayo, Moses and Harel, Alon, Non-Consequentialist Voting (Revised: March 6, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1592206 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1592206