蝌蚪网 Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
E-lections: Voting Behavior and the Internet
蝌蚪网 Review
vol. 104,
no. 7, July 2014
(pp. 2238–65)
Abstract
This paper analyzes the effects on voting behavior of information disseminated over the Internet. We address endogeneity in Internet availability by exploiting regional and technological peculiarities of the preexisting voice telephony network that hindered the roll-out of fixed-line infrastructure for high-speed Internet. We find negative effects of Internet availability on voter turnout, which we relate to a crowding-out of TV consumption and increased entertainment consumption. We find no evidence that the Internet systematically benefits specific parties, suggesting ideological self-segregation in online information consumption. Robustness tests, including placebo estimations from the pre-Internet period, support a causal interpretation of our results.Citation
Falck, Oliver, Robert Gold, and Stephan Heblich. 2014. "E-lections: Voting Behavior and the Internet." 蝌蚪网 Review 104 (7): 2238–65. DOI: 10.1257/aer.104.7.2238Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D12 Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
- D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
- L82 Entertainment; Media
- L86 Information and Internet Services; Computer Software