Identification and Estimation of Preference Distributions When Voters are Ideological, Second Version

62 Pages Posted: 9 Oct 2013

See all articles by Antonio Merlo

Antonio Merlo

University of Pennsylvania - Department of Economics; Rice University

Aureo de Paula

University College London - Department of Economics

Date Written: October 8, 2013

Abstract

This paper studies the nonparametric identification and estimation of voters’ preferences when voters are ideological. We establish that voter preference distributions and other parameters of interest can be identified from aggregate electoral data. We also show that these objects can be consistently estimated and illustrate our analysis by performing an actual estimation using data from the 1999 European Parliament elections.

Keywords: Voting, Voronoi tessellation, identification, nonparametric

JEL Classification: D72, C14

Suggested Citation

Merlo, Antonio M. and de Paula, Aureo, Identification and Estimation of Preference Distributions When Voters are Ideological, Second Version (October 8, 2013). PIER Working Paper No. 13-055, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2337642 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2337642

Antonio M. Merlo (Contact Author)

University of Pennsylvania - Department of Economics ( email )

Ronald O. Perelman Center for Political Science
133 South 36th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6297
United States
215-898-7933 (Phone)
215-573-2057 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.ssc.upenn.edu/~merloa

Rice University ( email )

6100 South Main Street
Houston, TX 77005-1892
United States

Aureo De Paula

University College London - Department of Economics ( email )

Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT, WC1E 6BT
United Kingdom

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