Paper short abstract:
This paper studies the relation between self-serving elite behaviour and citizen
political participation. We use a fixed effects approach to analyze the association
between portfolio investment in tax havens and voter turnout
Paper long abstract:
Abstract
This paper studies the relation between self-serving elite behaviour and citizen
political participation. We use a fixed effects approach to analyze the association
between portfolio investment in tax havens and voter turnout, using data from
213 parliamentary elections in 65 countries for the period 1998-2014. For
well-functioning democracies, we find a positive relation between the use of
tax havens and voter turnout, suggesting that self-serving elite behaviour is
associated with citizen political mobilization rather than voter apathy.
The estimated relationship is stronger in the period after the 2008 economic crisis,
when elite behaviour was a particularly salient issue.