Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/108733 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
DIW Discussion Papers No. 1462
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
One prediction of the calculus of voting is that electoral closeness positively affects turnout via a higher probability of one vote being decisive. I test this theory with data on all mayoral elections in the German state of Bavaria between 1946 and 2009. Importantly, I use constitutionally prescribed two-round elections to measure electoral closeness and thereby improve on existing work that mostly uses ex- post measures that are prone to endogeneity. The results suggest that electoral closeness matters: A one standard deviation increase in close- ness increases turnout by 1.68 percentage points, which corresponds to 1 6 of a standard deviation in this variable. I also evaluate how other factors like electorate size or rain on election day affect turnout differentially depending on the closeness of the race.
Subjects: 
Turnout
Closeness
Mayoral Elections
Bavaria
Two-Round Ballot
JEL: 
D72
H70
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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