NES Center for the Study of Diversity and Social Interactions and HSE International Center for the Study of Institutions and Development are happy to invite you to our joint meeting of the Research Seminar on Diversity and Development and HSE Seminar on Political Economy.

Alexey Zakharov (NRU HSE) will present the paper “ Strategic voting and turnout” (joint with Kivanc Akoz). 

Abstract:

Elections with multiple candidates often feature a single pro-government as well as multiple opposition candidates, with the opposition electorate being polarized between various opposition camps.
In our work, we use a strategic voting model to study the effect of this polarization on turnout and candidate chances of winning. We find that the effect crucially depends on whether the opposition voters coordinate on one of the candidates. In that case, polarization decreases turnout and the probability of opposition candidate winning; however, if the opposition voters vote sincerely, polarization can increase turnout due to a smaller free-ride effect.

 Registration: till noon of February 18