This paper explores the causal influence of media content on voting behavior. We exploit a natural experiment involving …

private information truthfully before voting takes place. Depending on the distance between two feasible public good levels …, the optimal mechanism involves either one or two voting rounds. We show that procedural efficiency cannot be achieved by … communication among all citizens prior to voting. Finally, we outline several applications of the mechanism. …

In 2001, the state parliament of the German federal state of Hesse abolished a 5 percent legal electoral threshold for … threshold. The dataset covers all 426 Hessian municipalities over the period 1989-2011. Our results suggest that the seat and …

I investigate minority votes in the German Council of Economic Experts. The dataset contains information on the voting … behavior of the council members over the period 1971-2011. The results show that the best predictor of minority voting is being … against the majority opinion of the German Council of Economic Experts. This voting pattern indicates that the channel of …

two-stage elections, candidates are admitted to the second round of voting based on the outcome of the first round. I find …

significantly affects voting behavior. An increase in the concentration of PM10 by 10μg/m3 - around two within-county standard …