Does Campaign Spending Work
Field Experiments Provide Evidence and Suggest New Theory
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3759031 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alan S Gerber (0000-0002-8133-3995, Yale University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2004 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 541-574 |
| Publication date | 2004-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Behavioral Scientist (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-7642 • E-ISSN: 1552-3381 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0002764203260415 |
| OpenAlex | W2058433447 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 71 |
| References cited | 18 |
This article reports the results of several field experiments designed to measure campaign effects in partisan contests. The findings suggest incumbent campaigns failed to increase incumbent vote share, whereas the challenger campaign was effective. To understand these and other results, the incumbent's optimal spending strategy was analyzed theoretically. The analysis reveals that if incumbents maximize their probability of victory rather than vote share, campaigns by typical incumbents are expected to produce only minimal improvement in incumbent vote share. The analysis also explains how returns to campaign spending vary with the competitiveness of the election, how incumbent spending can improve the incumbent's probability of victory yet have only minimal effect on incumbent vote share, and why rational spending plans might decrease the sponsor's expected vote. This article demonstrates the wide scope of application for field experiments and provides an example of how experimental findings can serve as a catalyst for generating theories
Business · Economics · Field (mathematics) · Labour economics · Microeconomics · Political science · Politics · Public economics · Scope (computer science) · Victory · Work (physics) · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Engineering · Law · Media Influence and Politics · School Choice and Performance
Understanding the climate responsibility associated with elections
Field Experiments on Political Behavior and Collective Action
Money in Politics
Les Québécois aux urnes
Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Political Science
Advocacy Activities of Nonprofit Human Service Organizations
Clientelism and vote buying
A Theory of Small Campaign Contributions
The Price of a Vote
The Heterogeneous Price of a Vote
Short-lived persuasion from campaign rallies
How the Electoral System Influences Personalization and Individual Campaign Spending
Interests groups, campaign contributions and political competition
Money Can't Buy Me Love
Assessing the “Experience Bonus” Through Examining Strategic Entry, Candidate Quality, and Campaign Receipts in U.S. House Elections
Experimental Evidence on the Relationship Between Candidate Funding Sources and Voter Evaluations
Simultaneous Elections and the Rise of Female Representation in Indonesia
Beyond donors
The Vicious Cycle
Billboards and Turnout
Do Robotic Calls From Credible Sources Influence Voter Turnout or Vote Choice? Evidence From a Randomized Field Experiment
Are European Elections Second‐Order Elections for Everyone
Incumbent parties, incumbent MPs and the effectiveness of constituency campaigns
Is Social Work Advocacy Worth the Cost? Issues and Barriers to an Economic Analysis of Social Work Political Practice
Campaign Spending and Electoral Competition
Háblame de tí
Is Information Power? Using Mobile Phones and Free Newspapers during an Election in Mozambique
Can the Party in Power Systematically Win a Majority in Close Legislative Elections? Evidence from US State Assemblies
It Takes Money to Make MPs
Assessing the Correspondence between Experimental Results Obtained in the Lab and Field
Loan Financing as a Tool for Nonincumbent House Candidates
An Experimental Field Study of the Gotv and Persuasion Effects of Partisan Direct Mail and Phone Calls
The Economic Consequences of Political Donation Limits
What Persuades Voters? A Field Experiment on Political Campaigning
Votes and Violence
Is Vote Buying Effective? Evidence from a Field Experiment in West Africa
The optimal allocation of campaign funds in U.S. House elections
Campaign Communications in U.S. Congressional Elections
The Persuasive Effects of Direct Mail
Special Interest Trade-Offs
The Financial Incumbency Advantage
Does Campaign Spending Affect Election Outcomes? New Evidence from Transaction-Level Disbursement Data
Campaign Spending, Diminishing Marginal Returns, and Campaign Finance Restrictions in Judicial Elections
Keep Winning with WinRed? Online Fundraising Platform as the Party's Public Good
Gender, Ethnicity, and Ballot Information
Parties are No Civic Charities
Systemic Effects of Campaign Spending
The Persuasive Effects of Partisan Campaign Mailers
Campaign Contributions and Access to Congressional Offices
Either with Us or Against Us
The Benefits of Experimental Methods for the Study of Campaign Effects
Are Ballot Initiative Outcomes Influenced by the Campaigns of Independent Groups? A Precinct-Randomized Field Experiment Showing That They Are
Political Awareness and Electoral Campaigns
The Design of Field Experiments With Survey Outcomes
Mobilization, participation, and American democracy
For want of a nail
Winning votes
How Do Campaigns Matter
Field Experiments Testing the Impact of Radio Advertisements on Electoral Competition
Educating the Least Informed
Autocratic Audiences and Linguistic Complexity
Does Publicizing a Tax Credit for Political Contributions Increase Its Use
Campaign Money, Congress, and Perceptions of Corruption
Theory, External Validity, and Experimental Inference
The effects of lawn signs on vote outcomes
Does campaign spending affect electoral outcomes
The Minimal Persuasive Effects of Campaign Contact in General Elections
The role of partisan cues in voter mobilization campaigns
Social Pressure and Voter Turnout
How Large and Long-lasting Are the Persuasive Effects of Televised Campaign Ads? Results from a Randomized Field Experiment
Campaign Finance and Voter Welfare with Entrenched Incumbents
Home Style
Money and votes reconsidered
Using Repeat Challengers to Estimate the Effect of Campaign Spending on Election Outcomes in the U.S. House
Estimating the Effect of Campaign Spending on Senate Election Outcomes Using Instrumental Variables
The Chelsea Project
Effects of Telephone Canvassing on Turnout and Preferences
Candidates, Money, and Voters-Assessing the State of Congressional Elections Research
Salvation for the Spendthrift Incumbent
Leadership and Pandering
The Effects of Campaign Spending in House Elections
Canvassing, Turnout and Party Support
Public Opinion and Propaganda
Equilibria in Campaign Spending Games
Explaining Senate Election Outcomes
Experimental Propaganda Techniques and Voting Behavior
The Effects of Campaign Spending in Congressional Elections
The Effects of Canvassing, Telephone Calls, and Direct Mail on Voter Turnout
| Unique citing works | 71 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3,38 |
| Citation span | 2005 - 2026 (22) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 69 |