Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
5068608 European Journal of Political Economy 2006 12 Pages PDF
Abstract
Opinion polls conducted throughout the 1990s indicate most Australians favor a republic. A referendum making that constitutional change, however, was defeated. This paper investigates whether voters employ a loss-minimization rule, as opposed to a value-maximization rule, when making political decisions. Based on the predictions of each rule, political strategies are devised and compared to the official arguments employed by republicans and monarchists during the period preceding the vote. Empirical research relates voting outcomes at the individual voter level to influences that are likely to be correlated with political risk aversion. The results are consistent with the conclusion that voters do not employ value-maximization rules.
Related Topics
Social Sciences and Humanities Economics, Econometrics and Finance Economics and Econometrics
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