Is the median voter decisive? Evidence from referenda voting patterns

Journal of Public Economics

Volumn 94, Issue 11-12, 2010, Pages 898-910

  Brunner, Eric J ^a   Ross, Stephen L ^b  

^a QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT   (United States)

Author keywords

Education spending; Median voter hypothesis; Referenda

Indexed keywords

EID: 78049460216     PISSN: 00472727     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2010.09.009     Document Type: Article

References (48)

1. Alesina A., Baqir R., Easterly W. Public goods and ethnic divisions. Quarterly Journal of Economics 1999, 114:1243-1284.
2. Alesina A., Baqir R., Hoxby C. Political jurisdictions in heterogeneous communities. Journal of Political Economy 2004, 112:348-396.
3. Aronsson T., Wikstrom M. Local public expenditure in Sweden: a model where the median voter is not necessarily decisive. European Economic Review 1996, 40:1705-1716.
4. Balsdon E., Brunner E. Can competition tame the Leviathan? Evidence from California's Proposition 39. National Tax Journal 2005, 58:627-642.
5. Balsdon E., Brunner E., Rueben K. Private demands for public capital: evidence from school bond referenda. Journal of Urban Economics 2003, 54:610-638.
6. de Bartolome C.A. What determines state aid to school districts? A positive model of foundation aid as redistribution. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 1997, 16:32-47.
7. Behrman J.R., Craig S.G. The distribution of public services: an exploration of local governmental preferences. The American Economic Review 1987, 77:37-49.
8. Bergstrom T.C., Goodman R.P. Private demands for public goods. The American Economic Review 1973, 63:280-296.
9. Bergstrom T.C., Rubinfeld D.L., Shapiro P. Micro-based estimates of demand functions for local school expenditures. Econometrica 1982, 50:1183-1206.
10. Black D. On the rationale group decision-making. Journal of Political Economy 1948, 56:23-34.
11. Black D. The decisions of a committee using a special majority. Econometrica 1948, 16:245-261.
12. Coate S., Conlin M. A group rule: utilitarian approach to voter turnout: theory and evidence. The American Economic Review 2004, 94:1476-1504.
13. Coate S., Conlin M., Moro A. The performance of pivotal-voter models in small-scale elections: evidence from Texas liquor referenda. Journal of Public Economics 2008, 92:582-596.
14. Davidson R., MacKinnon J.G. Several tests for model specification in the presence of alternative hypotheses. Econometrica 1981, 49:781-793.
15. Davidson R., MacKinnon J.G. Some non-nested hypothesis tests and the relations among them. Review of Economic Studies 1982, 49:551-565.
16. Duncombe W.D. Demand for local public services revisited: the case of fire protection. Public Finance Quarterly 1991, 19:412-436.
17. Duncombe W.D., Yinger J. How much more does a disadvantaged student cost?. Economics of Education Review 2005, 24:513-532.
18. Epple D., Platt G. Equilibrium and local redistribution in an urban economy when households differ in both preferences and incomes. Journal of Urban Economics 1998, 43:23-51.
19. Epple D., Romano R. Ends against the middle: determining public service provision when there are private alternatives. Journal of Public Economics 1996, 62:297-325.
20. Epple D., Romano R. Public provision of private goods. Journal of Political Economy 1996, 104:57-84.
21. Epple D., Sieg H. Estimating equilibrium models of local jurisdictions. Journal of Political Economy 1999, 107:645-681.
22. Epple D., Romer T., Sieg H. Interjurisdictional sorting and majority rule: an empiricalanalysis. Econometrica 2001, 69:1437-1465.
23. Fletcher D., Kenny L.W. The Influence of the elderly on school spending in a median voter framework. Education Finance and Policy 2008, 3:283-315.
24. Gerber E.R., Lewis J.B. Beyond the median: voter preferences, district heterogeneity, and political representation. Journal of Political Economy 2004, 112:1364-1383.
25. Goldstein G.S., Pauly M.V. Tiebout bias on the demand for local public goods. Journal of Public Economics 1981, 16:131-144.
26. Gradstein M. Optimal taxation and fiscal constitution. Journal of Public Economics 1999, 72:471-485.
27. Gramlich, Rubinfeld D. Micro estimates of public spending demand functions and tests of the Tiebout and median voter hypotheses. Journal of Political Economy 1982, 90:536-560.
28. Holcombe R. The median voter model in public choice theory. Public Choice 1989, 61:115-125.
29. Husted T.A., Kenny L.W. The effect of the expansion of the voting franchise on the size of government. Journal of Political Economy 1997, 105:54-82.
30. Inman R. Testing political economy's "as if" proposition: is the median income voter really decisive?. Public Choice 1978, 33:45-65.
31. Inman R. The fiscal performance of local governments: An interpretive review. Current Issues in Urban Economics 1979, Johns Hopkins University Press, New York. P. Mieszkowski, M. Straszheim (Eds.).
32. Johnson N.L., Kotz S., Balakrishnan N. Continuous Univariate Distributions, Volume 2 1995, Wiley & Sons, New York.
33. Pommerehne W. Institutional approaches of public expenditures: empirical evidence from Swiss municipalities. Journal of Public Economics 1978, 9:163-201.
34. Pommerehne W., Frey B. Two approaches to estimating public expenditures. Public Finance Quarterly 1976, 4:395-407.
35. Reschovsky A., Imazeki J. Let no child be left behind: determining the cost of improving student performance. Public Finance Review 2003, 31:263-290.
36. Romer T., Rosenthal H., Munley V.G. Economic incentives and political institutions: spending and voting in school budget referenda. Journal of Public Economics 1992, 49:1-33.
37. Ross S.L., Yinger J. Urban public finance. Applied Urban Economics 1999, Vol 3. Elsevier Science/North-Holland, Amsterdam. P. Cheshire, E.S. Mills (Eds.).
38. Rothstein P. The demand for education with power equalizing aid: estimation and simulation. Journal of Public Economics 1992, 49:135-162.
39. Rothstein P. Learning the preferences of governments and voters from proposed spending and aggregate votes. Journal of Public Economics 1994, 54:361-389.
40. Rubinfeld D.L., Shapiro P., Roberts J. Tiebout bias and the demand for local public schooling. The Review of Economics and Statistics 1987, 69:426-437.
41. Schwab R.M., Zampelli E.M. Disentangling the demand function from the production function for local public services: the case of public safety. Journal of Public Economics 1987, 33:245-260.
42. Silva F., Sonstelie J. Did Serrano cause a decline in school spending. National Tax Journal 1995, 48:199-215.
43. Stevens J.B., Mason R. Political markets, property tax referenda, and local school spending. Public Choice 1996, 86:257-277.
44. Turnbull G., Chang C. The median voter according to GARP. Southern Economic Journal 1998, 64:1001-1010.
45. Turnbull G., Djoundourian S. The median voter hypothesis: evidence from general purpose local governments. Public Choice 1994, 81:223-240.
46. Turnbull G., Mitias P. The median voter model across levels of government. Public Choice 1999, 99:119-138.
47. Urquiola M. Does school choice lead to sorting?. Evidence from Tiebout Variation, American Economic Review 2005, 95:1310-1326.
48. Wildasin D.E. Urban Public Finance 1986, Harwood Academic Publishers, New York, NY.