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Rain, opportunity costs of voting, and voter turnout: Evidence from South Korea
- Rain, opportunity costs of voting, and voter turnout: Evidence from South Korea
- Kang, Woo Chang
- Yale University
| Title |
Rain, opportunity costs of voting, and voter turnout: Evidence from South Korea
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| Material Type | Report |
| Author(English) |
Kang, Woo Chang |
| Publisher |
[New Haven, U.S.] : Yale University |
| Date | 2015-05 |
| Pages | 40 |
| Subject Country | South Korea(Asia and Pacific) |
| Language | English |
| File Type | Link |
| Subject | Economy < Economic Conditions Government and Law < Public Administration |
| Holding | SSRN |
| License |  |
Abstract
Existing studies on the importance of election day weather generally consider poor weather an additional cost in the voting calculus, which reduces turnout. In this paper, I claim that the effect of weather on turnout can differ across groups of voters depending on how weather affects the opportunity cost of voting. Inclement weather typically increases the direct cost of voting by making it less convenient. However, it may actually reduce the opportunity cost of voting for people with occupations that rely on good weather conditions. To support this claim, I compare the varying incentives for turnout under different weather conditions in different localities of South Korea based on the proportion of agricultural workers in each population. An analysis of four legislative elections since 2000 shows that the effects of rainfall on turnout are heterogeneous across communities. (The rest omitted)
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