Open AccessPoliticians’ Luck of the Draw: Evidence from the Spanish Christmas Lottery
Author(s) -
Manuel Bagüés,
Berta Esteve-Volart
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of political economy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1537-534X
pISSN - 0022-3808
DOI - 10.1086/688178
Subject(s) - lottery , luck , status quo , happiness , voting , economics , preference , public economics , advertising , positive economics , microeconomics , political science , business , market economy , law , politics , philosophy , theology
Incumbent politicians tend to receive more votes when economic conditions are good. In this paper we explore the source of this correlation, exploiting the exceptional evidence provided by the Spanish Christmas Lottery. Because winning tickets are typically sold by one lottery outlet, winners tend to be geographically clustered. This allows us to study the impact of exogenous good economic conditions on voting behavior. We find that incumbents receive significantly more votes in winning provinces. The evidence is consistent with a temporary increase in happiness making voters more lenient toward the incumbent, or with a stronger preference for the status quo.