Descripción del proyecto
UNTIL VERY RECENTLY, ECONOMISTS HAVE MOSTLY TAKEN PREFERENCES AS AN IMMUTABLE OBJECT, LINKED TO OBJECTIVE FACTS AND RATIONAL DECISIONS. HOWEVER, IN A RECENT PAPER PUBLISHED IN THE AER, ALESINA ET AL. (2020) ARGUE THAT CITIZENS MAY EVEN DISAGREE ABOUT VERIFIABLE FACTS, THEIR INTERPRETATION AND USE IN THEIR POLITICAL DISCOURSE. THIS BRILLIANT TWIST IS INDEBTED TO BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS, WHICH THROUGH PROSPECT THEORYHAD MADE IT POSSIBLE TO CONSIDER CITIZENS WHO MAY NOT BE FULLY RATIONAL, IN ITS CLASSICAL SENSE.ONE PARTICULAR ATTEMPT TO MODEL THESE PREFERENCES IS FOUND IN THE NEW LITERATURE OF FOCUSING AND SALIENCY (BORDALO, GENNAIOLI, AND SHLEIFER 2016). IN PARTICULAR, IN AN ISSUE IN HONOR OF ALBERTO ALESINA AT THE QJE, (BONOMI, GENNAIOLI, AND TABELLINI 2021) SHOW THAT WHEN A DISTORTED BELIEF FORMATION IS APPLIED TO IDENTITY CHOICE, POLARIZATION ABOUT COMMON FACTS IS EXACERBATED. A MORE RATIONAL APPROACH OF IDENTITY CHOICE, ALSO RELATED TO THIS LITERATURE, IS SHAYOS APPROACH TO IDENTITY POLITICS (SHAYO 2020, AND REFERENCES THEREIN).THE COMMON THREAD AMONG THE DIFFERENT SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE IS THE GENERAL ONE: HOW INSTITUTIONS, GEOGRAPHY AND POLITICAL DETERMINANTS ARE RELATED TO INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE PREFERENCES.WE IDENTIFY FOUR SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:1. TECHNOLOGY AND MEDIA: AMONG THE INSTITUTIONS, TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS HAVE CHANGED THE POLITICIANS RETURN ON INVESTING IN ADVERTISING IN MEDIA PLATFORMS, THE VOTERS INCENTIVES TO ACQUIRE INFORMATION AND THE MEDIA OUTLETS TO FACT CHECK NEWS. FOR INSTANCE, BASED ON THE RECENT LITERATURE ON SALIENCE (BORDALO AT AL, NUNNARI AND ZAPAL, DENTER, ETC), WE INVESTIGATE HOW VOTERS LIMITED KNOWLEDGE OF PARTIES PLATFORMS AFFECTS THE CHOICE OF PLATFORMS AND THE ELECTORAL SPENDING (A LA MARTINELLI ET AL). 2. INSTITUTIONS IN DEMOCRACY: CLASSICAL DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS, LIKE PARLIAMENTS AND SUPREME COURTS, MEET DIFFERENT CONSTITUTIONAL GOAL. PARLIAMENTS TYPICALLY AGGREGATE PREFERENCES AND SUPREME COURTS PROTECT THE MINORITIES. HOWEVER, WE INVESTIGATE THE OPPOSITE CHANNEL, THAT IS, WHETHER PROTESTS OF ORGANIZED (MINORITY) GROUPS AFFECT POLICY-MAKING IN PARLIAMENTS. SIMILARLY, WE STUDY HOW SUPREME COURTS (C.F., JUDICIAL REVIEW) AFFECTS PREFERENCES. FOR INSTANCE, WE INVESTIGATE WHETHER THE SENTENCE OF THE TRIBUNAL CONSTITUCIONAL HAD AFFECTED THE CATALANS PREFERENCES FOR SECESSION.3. GEOGRAPHY: THREE IMPORTANT REASONS CAN EXPLAIN WHY GEOGRAPHY IMPACT POLITICAL PREFERENCES. I), GEOGRAPHICAL SORTING (BISHOP, 2009; LIU ET AL., 2019, MORETTI, 2012). II) ECONOMIC SHOCKS WITH LOCAL NATURE AND CAN IMPACT POLITICAL PREFERENCES ONLY OF SPECIFIC COMMUNITIES (FOR EXAMPLE, AUTOR ET AL., 2020). III), CONTACT THEORY, CONFORMITY AND OTHER FORMS OF PEER PRESSURES HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO IMPACT POLITICAL PREFERENCES (PEREZ-TRUGLIA AND CRUCES, 2017; CANTONI AND PONS, FORTHCOMING). THUS, MANY U.S. VOTERS HAVE ALMOST NO PHYSICAL INTERACTION WITH VOTERS FROM THEIR OPPOSITE PARTY WHERE THEY LIVE (BROWN AND ENOS, 2021). FOR INSTANCE, WE STUDY THE EFFECT OF THAT LACK OF INTERACTION ON AN INCREASE IN THE GEOGRAPHICAL POLARIZATION OF THEIR COMMUNITIES AND VOTING, IN THE U.S.4. POLITICAL DETERMINANTS: HERE, WE ALSO REVERSE THE CLASSICAL REASONING. WE INVESTIGATE HOW IDEOLOGICAL IDENTIFICATION AFFECTS NON-POLITICAL PREFERENCES AND, MORE INTERESTINGLY, ACTIONS. FOR INSTANCE, WITH Y. FAWAZ AND E. PONKINA, WE SHOW IDEOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS OF COVID VACCINATION IN ALL EU COUNTRIES CONTROLLING FOR INDIVIDUAL HEALTH. ECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS\GEOGRAPHICAL SORTING\SUPREME COURT\IDENTITY\PREFERENCES\MEDIA