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Title: Do Legislators Consider the Economic Vulnerability of their Constituents when Liberalising Trade? An Empirical Examination of the Voting Record on NAFTA
Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis
Publication Year: 2017
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Abstract: We use U.S. Congressional voting roll call data as well as U.S. Census data from 1990-2000 to examine the voting behaviour of the House of Representatives on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Specifically, we investigate the impact of economic vulnerability of their constituents to free trade with Mexico on the Representatives’ voting decision. Using a weighted local average tariff of each Congressional District as a measure of its vulnerability, we find a strong and significant effect even with the presence of other controls. This allows us to conclude that Representatives did base their votes on the anticipated economic effect on their constituencies. This suggests that politicians are aware of and take into account directly the economic impact of trade legislation on the citizens they represent, and to a greater degree than factors such as personal ideology, party affiliation and political contributions. We also find a lack of significant relationship between local vulnerability and labour contributions
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Authors: Li, Zhuohan
Institution: Yale University
Department: Economics
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Pages: 44
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Other
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