Are Voters Risk Averse? Specifying Utility Functions in Spatial Models of Voting

• In Event: Ideal Point Estimation

Brief Overview

This proposal tests whether voters dispositions towards risk in spatial voting. Using alpha-NOMINATE, it examines the shape of voters’ utility functions and why moderate electorates fail to constrain partisan polarization in American politics.

Authors

• Carlos Andres Algara, Claremont Graduate University

• Sam Fuller, Harvard University

• Christopher Hare, University of California-Davis