Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/51937 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 5854
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Despite the centrality of voting costs to the paradox of voting, little effort has been made to accurately measure these costs outside of a few spatially limited case studies. In this paper, we apply Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools to validated national election survey data from New Zealand. We calculate distance and travel time by road from the place of residence to the nearest polling place and combine our time estimate with imputed wages for all sample members. Using this new measure of the opportunity cost of voting to predict turnout at the individual level, we find that small increases in the opportunity costs of time can have large effects in reducing voter turnout.
Subjects: 
opportunity cost
paradox of voting
travel time
JEL: 
D7
R4
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
177.46 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.