15:00 - 16:40
P4-S96
Room: 1A.02
Chair/s:
Miguel M. Pereira
Discussant/s:
Maayan Mor
Geographic preferences in voting and spatial inequality in representation
P4-S96-1
Presented by: Jeremias Nieminen
Oskari Harjunen 2Jeremias Nieminen 1, Tuukka Saarimaa 2, Janne Tukiainen 1
1 University of Turku
2 Aalto University
We study geographic preferences in voting and spatial inequality in representation. Specifically, we assess whether candidates in municipal elections get more votes from the area they live in, and what is the effect of moving elsewhere on the vote bonus received from the old home district. Our results suggest that candidates get more votes from the home district, especially if they live in a district with a large number of homeowners. When an individual moves to a new district inside the same municipality, it also negatively impacts their vote share in their old home district. Regarding spatial inequality in representation, we find that voting district with higher average incomes and more education have more candidates getting elected. Homeowner share is strongly associated with the share of votes that go to candidates who live in the same area, suggesting that especially homeowners vote for candidates who live in the same neighborhood.
Keywords: geographical representation, homeowners, voting

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