Competitive Equilibrium in Markets for Votes
42 Pages Posted: 30 Aug 2010 Last revised: 30 Jan 2022
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Competitive Equilibrium in Markets for Votes
Competitive Equilibrium in Markets for Votes
Competitive Equilibrium in Markets for Votes
Competitive Equilibrium in Markets for Votes
Date Written: August 2010
Abstract
We develop a competitive equilibrium theory of a market for votes. Before voting on a binary issue, individuals may buy and sell their votes with each other. We define the concept of Ex Ante Vote-Trading Equilibrium, identify weak sufficient conditions for existence, and construct one such equilibrium. We show that this equilibrium must always result in dictatorship and the market generates welfare losses, relative to simple majority voting, if the committee is large enough. We test the theoretical implications by implementing a competitive vote market in the laboratory using a continuous open-book multi-unit double auction.
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