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  4. February 2019
  5. Stimulating the Vote: ARRA Road Spending and Vote Share

Stimulating the Vote: ARRA Road Spending and Vote Share

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Abstract

This paper estimates the impact of public good spending on voting behavior in the United States, using a quasi-experimental design and the distribution of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) road projects in New Jersey. I find an approximate 1.5 percentage point increase in Democratic Party presidential vote share in areas close to highway and bridge expenditures. I consider two alternative mechanisms: one, a salience mechanism whereby spending and associated "funded-by" signage affect political preferences; the other, a possible political multiplier effect whereby stimulus spending improves local economic outcomes, generating incumbent votes. Evidence is inconsistent with the later explanation.

Citation

Huet-Vaughn, Emiliano. 2019. "Stimulating the Vote: ARRA Road Spending and Vote Share." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 11 (1): 292-316. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20170151

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
  • H41 Public Goods
  • H54 National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: Infrastructures; Other Public Investment and Capital Stock
  • H76 State and Local Government: Other Expenditure Categories
  • R42 Transportation Economics: Government and Private Investment Analysis; Road Maintenance, Transportation Planning
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