Paying "Cash for Votes"
- Author(s)
- Anand Murugesan, Jean-Robert Tyran
- Abstract
The expression “cash-for-votes” describes a form of vote buying in which candidates for office pay individuals in exchange for their votes. That practice undermines the functioning of democracy but is pervasive in many parts of the world, especially in the Global South. We discuss estimates of cash-for-votes and rational choice theories explaining their existence. Cash-for-votes under secret ballots is puzzling as secret ballots make it impossible to verify an individual’s vote. We discuss the behavioral and experimental literature emphasizing factors such as reciprocity, unsophisticated voting, and inequality aversion, which complement standard economic explanations of the phenomenon.
- Organisation(s)
- Vienna Center for Experimental Economics, Department of Economics
- Publication date
- 04-2025
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 502027 Political economy
- Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/c4243880-c31a-46bf-a129-668650fa6697