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Fairness and voting

Hahn, Volker

In: Social Choice and Welfare, 2007, vol. 28, no. 4, p. 591-605

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    Title
    • Fairness and voting
    Author
    • Hahn, Volker. CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research, ETH Zurich, ZUE D 13, Zürichbergstrasse 18, 8032, Zurich, Switzerland
    Document Type
    • Postprint
    Classification
    • Social sciences
    OAI-PMH Identifier
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:320248
    Summary
    In this paper we present a two-period model in which we examine how concern about fairness might affect voter behavior. We show that in the first period politicians choose the median voter's position even if this does not correspond to their bliss points and neither they nor the voters can commit to a particular action. Moreover, concern about fairness creates substantial incumbency advantages. Our results hold even if voters care very little about fairness