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| Type | Working Paper |
| Scope | Discipline-based scholarship |
| Title | Mobilization versus mitigation: how do cash transfers affect participation in elections? |
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| Authors |
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| Institution | University of Zurich |
| Series Name | URPP Equality of Opportunity Discussion Paper Series |
| Number | 13 |
| Number of Pages | 37 |
| Date | 2023 |
| Abstract Text | It is commonly accepted that income deprivation suppresses civic engagement. Yet, it is still unclear how policies that seek to tackle deprivation, such as anti-poverty schemes, affect political participation in targeted constituencies: Do they mobilize new citizens (mobilization) or keep engaged those with the habit of voting (mitigation)? I theoretically distinguish between these two mechanisms by focusing on cash transfers, the most widely adopted anti-poverty scheme worldwide. Empirically, I evaluate the Renda Básica de Cidadania, the largest unconditional cash transfer in Latin America, which allows for isolating the effect of cash payments on voting behavior. Estimates from a difference-in-differences design reveal a three percentage points increase (a net growth of 4%) in voter turnout in posttreatment elections. Leveraging municipal-level data in a synthetic control method approach, I show that a mitigation mechanism induces this effect, i.e., the payment of monthly cash transfers reduced the incentives to abstain in elections. |
| Official URL | https://www.urpp-equality.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:71f71c72-5b02-451a-9564-f4e4ee9ff143/13_Ara%C3%BAjo_URPP_cashtransfers_participation.pdf |
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| Other Identification Number | merlin-id:24219 |
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| Keywords | Anti-poverty schemes, poverty alleviation, unconditional cash transfers, political safety net, voter turnout |