Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/82037 
Year of Publication: 
2004
Series/Report no.: 
EPRU Working Paper Series No. 2004-03
Publisher: 
University of Copenhagen, Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), Copenhagen
Abstract: 
Do better informed people vote more? Recent theories of voter turnout emphasize a positive effect of being informed on the propensity to vote, but the possibility of endogenous information acquisition makes estimation of causal effects difficult. I estimate the causal effects of being informed on voter turnout using unique data from a natural experiment Copenhagen referendum on decentralization. Four of fifteen districts carried out a pilot project, exogenously making pilot city district voters more informed about the effects of decentralization. Empirical estimates based on survey data confirm a sizeable and statistically significant causal effect of being informed on the propensity to vote.
Subjects: 
voter turnout
information and voting
political participation
natural experiment
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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