Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP12516
Authors: Alberto Chong; Gianmarco Len; Vivian Roza; Martin Valdivia; Gabriela Vega
Abstract: We use a field experiment to evaluate the impact of two informational get-out-the-vote (GOTV) campaigns to boost female electoral participation in Paraguay. We find that public rallies have no effect either on registration or on voter turnout in the 2013 presidential elections. However, households that received door-to-door (D2D) treatment are 4.6 percentage points more likely to vote. Experimental variation on the intensity of the treatment at the locality level allows us to estimate spillover effects, which are present in localities that are geographically moreconcentrated, and thus may favor social interactions. Reinforcement effects to the already treated population are twice as large as diffusion to the untreated. Our results underscore the importance of taking into account urbanization patterns when designing informational campaigns.
Keywords: voter behavior; electoral politics; urbanization; spillover effects; paraguay
JEL Codes: O10; D72; O53; D71
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| public rallies (D72) | voter registration (K16) |
| public rallies (D72) | voter turnout (K16) |
| D2D treatment (C22) | voter turnout (K16) |
| D2D treatment intensity (C22) | spillover effects (F69) |
| urbanization patterns (R23) | spillover effects (F69) |