The paradox between an individual's decisions to head to the polls and the absence of
strictly rational arguments for this action has intrigued–and troubled–many scholars. The …

This article summarizes a small part of the literature on laboratory experiments in political
economy. The experiments discussed are primarily aimed at testing predictions of …

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the importance of 'comparison income'for
individual well-being or happiness. In other words, the influence of the income of a reference …

Public policy is a broad and interdisciplinary area of study and research in the field tends to
reflect this. Yet for those teaching and studying public policy, the disjointed nature of the field …

Given the extensive evidence of apparently strategic voter behavior, it is unsettling that there
is not a canonical rational choice model of voting in elections with costs to vote. But while a …

It is widely believed that rational choice theory is grossly inconsistent with empirical
observations about voter turnout. We report the results of an experiment designed to test the …

We report results from a laboratory experiment testing the basic hypothesis embedded in
various rational voter models that there is a direct correlation between the strength of an …

Quantal Response Equilibrium presents a stochastic theory of games that unites
probabilistic choice models developed in psychology and statistics with the Nash …

We experimentally study the impact of public opinion poll releases on voter turnout and
welfare in a participation game. We find higher overall turnout rates when polls inform the …

We study the effect of social embeddedness on voter turnout by investigating the role of
information about other voters' decisions. We do so in a participation game, in which we …