E-lections: Voting behavior and the internet

Arbeitspapier

This paper analyses the effect of information disseminated by the Internet on voting behavior. We address endogeneity in Internet availability by exploiting regional and technological peculiarities of the preexisting voice telephony network that hinder the roll-out of fixed-line broadband infrastructure for high-speed Internet. We find small negative effects of Internet availability on voter turnout, and no evidence that the Internet systematically benefits single parties. Robustness tests including placebo estimations from the pre-Internet era confirm our results. We relate differences in the Internet effect between national and local elections to a crowding out of national but not local newspapers.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 6545

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior ; Econometric Modeling: General ; Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
• Subject: elections ; political economy ; instrumental variables ; mass media ; internet ; Wahlverhalten ; Informationsverhalten ; Kommunikationsmedien ; Internet ; Deutschland

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Falck, Oliver ; Gold, Robert ; Heblich, Stephan
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2012

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/58586
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-201208175247
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET