Public Economics Lectures Part 1: Introduction

Lee, Moretti, and Butler 2004
Evidence on Congressional voting sharply contradicts prediction of
median voter theory
Politicians’inability to credibly commit to a compromise dominates
competition-induced convergence in policy.
For example, a large exogenous increase in electoral strength for the
Democratic party in a district does not result in shifting both parties’
nominees to the left.
Cannot rely on median voter logic to implement effi cient choice even
if mean and median are close
Need to devise social choice mechanisms that account for
commitment problems
Public Economics Lectures () Part 7: Public Goods and Externalities 30 / 138