Red de Desarrollo Social de América Latina y el Caribe
Plataforma virtual para la difusión de conocimiento sobre desarrollo social

Voting technology, political responsiveness, and infant health: evidence from Brazil

 

Autor institucional : Econometrica - Princeton University
Autor/Autores: Thomas Fijiwara
Fecha de publicación: Marzo 2015
Alcance geográfico: Nacional
Publicado en: Estados Unidos
Descargar: Descargar PDF
Resumen: This paper studies the introduction of electronic voting technology in Brazilian elections. Estimates exploiting a regression discontinuity design indicate that electronic voting reduced residual (error-ridden and uncounted) votes and promoted a large de facto enfranchisement of mainly less educated citizens. Estimates exploiting the unique pattern of the technology’s phase-in across states over time suggest that, as predicted by political economy models, it shifted government spending toward health care, which is particularly beneficial to the poor. Positive effects on both the utilization of health services (prenatal visits) and newborn health (low-weight births) are also found for less educated mothers, but not for the more educated.
   

 

 

© ReDeSoc - Red de Desarrollo Social de América Latina y El Caribe.
redesoc@un.org
CEPAL - Naciones Unidas
Dirección: Avda. Dag Hammarsjold 3477 Vitacura, Santiago, Chile