Marcel Fafchamps
University of Oxford
Ana Vaz
University of Oxford
Pedro C. Vicente
Nova School of Business and Economics
ISSN 2183-0843
Working Paper No 1303
September 2013
Abstract
Voter education campaigns often aim to increase voter participation and political accountability. We follow randomized interventions implemented nationwide during the 2009 Mozambican elections using a free newspaper, leaflets and text messaging. We investigate whether treatment effects were transmitted through social networks (kinship and chatting) and geographical proximity. For individuals personally targeted by the campaign, we estimate the reinforcement effect of proximity to other targeted individuals. For untargeted individuals, we estimate the diffusion of the campaign depending on proximity to targeted individuals. We find evidence for both effects, similar across the different treatments and across the different connectedness measures. We observe that the treatments worked through networks by raising the levels of information and interest about the election, in line with the average treatment effects. However, differently from those average effects, we find negative network effects of voter education on voter participation. We interpret this result as a free riding effect, likely to occur for costly actions.
This paper forthcoming in the Economic Development and Cultural Change.
https://doi.org/10.1086/700634
