A Test for the Rational Ignorance Hypothesis: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Brazil

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: de Leon, Fernanda Leite Lopez; Rizzi, Renata
• 署名单位: University of East Anglia
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.6.4.380
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 380-398
• 关键词: voter turnout; INFORMATION; identification; PARTICIPATION; BIAS

摘要

This paper tests the rational ignorance hypothesis by Downs (1957). This theory predicts that people do not acquire costly information to educate their votes. We provide new estimates for the effect of voting participation by exploring the Brazilian dual voting system-voluntary and compulsory-whose exposure is determined by citizens' date of birth. Using a fuzzy RD approach and data from a self-collected survey, we find no impact of voting on individuals' political knowledge or information consumption. Our results corroborate Downs' predictions and refute the conjecture by Lijphart (1997) that compulsory voting stimulates civic education.