Title
Electoral competition with policy-motivated candidates
Abstract
In the multi-dimensional spatial model of elections with two policy-motivated candidates, we prove that the candidates must adopt the same policy platform in equilibrium. Moreover, when the number of voters is odd, if the gradients of the candidates' utility functions point in different directions, then they must locate at some voter's ideal point and a strong symmetry condition must be satisfied: in particular, it must be possible to pair some voters so that their gradients point in exactly opposite directions. If the number of dimensions is more than two, then our condition is knife-edge. When the number of voters is even, the situation is worse: such equilibria never exist, regardless of the dimensionality of the policy space.
Year
DOI
Venue
2005
10.1016/j.geb.2004.11.006
Games and Economic Behavior
Keywords
Field
DocType
D72,C72
Welfare economics,Mathematical economics,Economics,Spatial model,Ideal point,Curse of dimensionality
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
51
2
0899-8256
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
18
6.91
2
Authors
2
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
John Duggan1241145.72
Mark Fey24812.13