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This paper develops a new approach to study how electoral bias in favor of one party due to the pattern of districting affects policy choice. We tie a commonly used measure of districting bias to the theory of party competition and show how this affects policy choice in theory. The utility of the approach is illustrated using data on local government in the U.K. The results suggest that reducing electoral bias leads parties to moderate their policies.
Authors
Research Associate London School of Economics
Timothy is a Research Associate at the IFS and a Professor of Economics and Political Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Research Fellow University College London
Ian is a Research Fellow of the IFS and a Professor of Economics at UCL. He joined UCL in 1991 and has been attached to the IFS since 1990.
Working Paper details
- DOI
- 10.1920/wp.ifs.2006.0603
- Publisher
- IFS
Suggested citation
Besley, T and Preston, I. (2006). Electoral bias and policy choice: theory and evidence. London: IFS. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/electoral-bias-and-policy-choice-theory-and-evidence-0 (accessed: 12 May 2024).
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