Review of Economic Studies Vol. 83 No. 2 2016
Ballot Position, Choice Fatigue, and Voter Behaviour
Abstract
In this article, we examine the effect of “choice fatigue” on decision making. We exploit a natural experiment in which voters face the same contest at different ballot positions due to differences in the number of local issues on their ballot. Facing more decisions before a given contest significantly increases the tendency to abstain or rely on decision shortcuts, such as voting for the status quo or the first-listed candidate. We estimate that, without choice fatigue, abstentions would decrease by 8%, and 6% of the propositions in our data set would have passed rather than failed.
- DOI
- 10.1093/restud/rdv047
- Volume
- 83
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 460-480
- Language
- en
- Sources
- openalex crossref bibtex:phds-export.bib