The right look: Conservative politicians look better and voters reward it

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Berggren, Niclas; Jordahl, Henrik; Poutvaara, Panu
• 署名单位: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN); Prague University of Economics & Business; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut; IZA Institute Labor Economics; University of Munich; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.12.008
• 发表日期: 2017
• 页码: 79-86
• 关键词: Beauty; ELECTIONS; Political candidates; appearance; ideology; PARTIES

摘要

Since good-looking politicians win more votes, a beauty advantage for politicians on the left or on the right is bound to have political consequences. We show that politicians on the right look more beautiful in Europe, the United States and Australia. Our explanation is that beautiful people earn more, which makes them less inclined to support redistribution. Our model of within-party competition predicts that voters use beauty as a cue for conservatism when they do not know much about candidates and that politicians on the right benefit more from beauty in low-information elections. Evidence from real and experimental elections confirms both predictions. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.