This article studies the non-parametric identification and estimation of voters’ preferences when voters are ideological. We establish that voter preference distributions and other parameters of interest can be identified from aggregate electoral data. We also show that these objects can be consistently estimated and illustrate our analysis by performing an actual estimation using data from the 1999 European Parliament elections.
Authors
![Aureo de Paula](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-05/Aureo_de_Paula.jpeg?itok=gruIBVe-)
Research Fellow University College London
Áureo is an applied econometrician with strong interests in both methodological and empirical questions, affiliated with UCL, Cemmap, IFS and CEPR.
![Person graphic](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-06/IFS-person-graphic.png?itok=hWCtTSrz)
Antonio Merlo
Journal article details
- DOI
- 10.1093/restud/rdw046
- Publisher
- Oxford Academic
- Issue
- Volume 84, Issue 3, July 2017, pages 2138-2168
Suggested citation
More from IFS
Understand this issue
![School girls in Rajasthan](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-11/Schoolgirls-in-Rajasthan_0.jpg?itok=aboMI9Wt)
Gender norms, violence and adolescent girls’ trajectories: Evidence from India
24 October 2022
![Edge of rural town](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2024-07/levelling%20up%20feature.jpg?itok=HJBdqLuW)
Levelling up: it’s time to step up
30 June 2024
![Isabel Stockton](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2024-06/Isabel-public-finances.jpg?itok=JfdJNN7F)
What are the challenges in getting debt on a falling path?
28 June 2024
Policy analysis
![Carl Emmerson](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-06/Carl_Emmerson.jpg?itok=6jM06LTY)
IFS Deputy Director Carl Emmerson appointed to the UK Statistics Authority Methodological Assurance Review Panel
14 April 2023
![Publication graphic](/sites/default/files/styles/portrait/public/2022-06/IFS-publication-graphic.png?itok=QoQz8AN4)
ABC of SV: Limited Information Likelihood Inference in Stochastic Volatility Jump-Diffusion Models
We develop novel methods for estimation and filtering of continuous-time models with stochastic volatility and jumps using so-called Approximate Bayesian Compu- tation which build likelihoods based on limited information.
12 August 2014
![Hospital](/sites/default/files/styles/square_desktop/public/2022-08/Hospital2.jpg?itok=Jt37JXbP)
Is there really an NHS productivity crisis?
17 November 2023
Academic research
![Working Paper Cover](/sites/default/files/styles/portrait/public/2024-05/CWP1124-Inference-for-rank-rank-regressions_Page_01.jpg?itok=iJl8Ja1B)
Inference for rank-rank regressions
28 May 2024
![Journal Article Cover](/sites/default/files/styles/portrait/public/2024-02/Fiscal%20Studies%20-%202024%20-%20%20-%20Issue%20Information_Page_1.jpg?itok=GfdQz4AB)
Sample composition and representativeness on Understanding Society
2 February 2024
![Working paper cover](/sites/default/files/styles/portrait/public/2024-06/WP202428-The-impact-of%20labour-demand-shocks-when-occupational-labour-supplies-are-heterogeneous.jpg?itok=Erq9-V9O)
The impact of labour demand shocks when occupational labour supplies are heterogeneous
28 June 2024