Elections, Information, and State-Dependent Candidate Quality

Research output: Working paperResearch

The quality of political candidates often depends on the current state of the world, for example because their personal characteristics are more valuable in some situations than in others. We explore the implications of state-dependent candidate quality in a model of electoral competition where voters are uncertain about the state. Candidates are fully informed and completely office-motivated. With a reasonable restriction on voters' beliefs, an equilibrium where candidates' positions reveal the true state does not exist. Non-revealing equilibria always exist. Some main findings are that canddates' positions can diverge more in equilibrium when they differ more in state-dependent quality and when the electorate is less well informed.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationKbh.
PublisherØkonomisk institut, Københavns Universitet
Pages27
Publication statusPublished - 2013
SeriesUniversity of Copenhagen. Institute of Economics. Discussion Papers (Online)
Number3
Volume13
ISSN1601-2461

Bibliographical note

JEL Classification: D72

ID: 46766883