Full Citation

Title: Employment, Wages, and Voter Turnout

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2013

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI:

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: Using county-level data across several decades, and various OLS and TSLS models, we find that higher local wages and employment lower turnout in elections for governor, senator, US Congress and state House of Representatives, but have no effect on presidential turnout. We also find that the share of people voting in one election but not in another on the same ballot increases as local labor market conditions improve. We argue that these results are most consistent with information-based models of voting, and use individual level panel data to show that increased employment lowers media usage and political knowledge.

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Charles, Kofi K.; Stephens, Melvin

Periodical (Full): American Economic Journal: Applied Economics

Issue: 4

Volume: 5

Pages: 111-143

Data Collections: IPUMS NHGIS

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Migration and Immigration

Countries: