Replication data for: E-lections: Voting Behavior and the Internet

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Oliver Falck; Robert Gold; Stephan Heblich

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Project Citation:

Falck, Oliver, Gold, Robert, and Heblich, Stephan. Replication data for: E-lections: Voting Behavior and the Internet. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2014. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-10-11. https://doi.org/10.3886/E112839V1

Project Description

Summary: This paper analyzes the effects on voting behavior of information disseminated over the Internet. We address endogeneity in Internet availability by exploiting regional and technological peculiarities of the preexisting voice telephony network that hindered the roll-out of fixed-line infrastructure for high-speed Internet. We find negative effects of Internet availability on voter turnout, which we relate to a crowding-out of TV consumption and increased entertainment consumption. We find no evidence that the Internet systematically benefits specific parties, suggesting ideological self-segregation in online information consumption. Robustness tests, including placebo estimations from the pre-Internet period, support a causal interpretation of our results.

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:
      D12 Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
      D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
      L82 Entertainment; Media
      L86 Information and Internet Services; Computer Software

Geographic Coverage: Germany

Time Period(s): 1990 – 2008

Universe: All voters in Germany

Data Type(s): survey data; administrative records data; geographic information system (GIS) data; program source code; aggregate data

Methodology

Data Source: Election outcomes, socio-economic data and recoding keys for administrative boundaries from the Federal Statistical Office and the Statistical Offices of the federal states; High-speed Internet availability from Breitbandatlas Deutschland published by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology; Voice telephone network data from Deutsche Telekom; Newspaper circulation from German Audit Bureau of Circulations IVW (Informationsgemeinschaft zur Feststellung der Verbreitung von Werbetragern e.V.); Socio economic data from IAB Employment Samples; Spatial classification schemes from the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development; Media consumption from Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

Unit(s) of Observation: Elections (federal, state, local), Voter turnout and vote share, Municipalities,

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Published Versions

V1 [2019-10-11]

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