Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/219008 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
ifo Working Paper No. 324
Publisher: 
ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, Munich
Abstract: 
We examine the relationship between inheritance rules and voter turnout. Inheritance rules are measured by entailed farms in South Tyrol: land properties whose inheritance is regulated by a law similar to the right of primogeniture. Using data for municipalities between 1998 and 2010, we show that voter turnout is high in municipalities with many entailed farms relative to population. The effect is based on local elections. If the number of entailed farms per 100 inhabitants increases by one standard deviation, voting turnout in municipal and provincial elections increases by around 1.27 and 1.43 percentage points (around 25 and 35 percent of a standard deviation). Our results suggest that entailed farm owners themselves are more likely to vote, and that entailed farms owners encourage other citizens of their municipality to participate in local elections.
Subjects: 
entailed farms
voter turnout
inheritance rules
identity
civic duty
JEL: 
D72
H70
K11
Q15
Z19
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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