- 03 Mar 2019
- Working Paper Summaries
Strict ID Laws Don’t Stop Voters: Evidence from a U.S. Nationwide Panel, 2008–2016
Evidence on the consequences of strict ID laws adopted between 2008 and 2016 shows no significant negative effect on registration or turnout overall or for any subgroup defined by age, gender, race, or party affiliation. ID requirements had no significant effect on actual or perceived fraud, either.
- 21 Feb 2019
- Research & Ideas
Voter ID Laws Don't Work (But They Don't Hurt Anything, Either)
Voter ID laws are often proposed as an antidote to election fraud. There's just one problem, according to Vincent Pons. They don't work. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 28 Sep 2018
- Working Paper Summaries
Rankings Matter Even When They Shouldn't: Bandwagon Effects in Two-Round Elections
Results of the French parliamentary and local elections since 1958 show that candidates ranked higher in the first round are more likely to stay in the race for the second round and win it. Arriving first instead of second and second instead of third increases winning by 5.8 and 9.9 percentage points, respectively.
- 06 Sep 2018
- Cold Call Podcast
Should US Companies Still Care About the Paris Climate Change Agreement?
American President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change one year ago. Vincent Pons discusses what it means for US business leaders in confronting environmental challenges. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 03 Oct 2017
- Sharpening Your Skills
7 Effective Ways to Lead Teams
Managers of teams require communications skills, organizational capabilities, and a knack for judging how people might work together. Research from Harvard Business School investigates the challenges of team leadership. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 14 Jun 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Expressive Voting and Its Cost: Evidence from Runoffs with Two or Three Candidates
This paper highlights the motivations and consequences of citizens voting for lower-ranked candidates in elections held under plurality rule. Findings show that a large fraction of voters are what the authors call expressive. Expressive voters vote for their favorite candidate even if it causes the defeat of their second-best choice.
- 02 May 2016
- Research & Ideas
Why People Don’t Vote--and How a Good Ground Game Helps
Recent research by Vincent Pons shows that campaigners knocking on the doors of potential voters not only improves overall turnout but helps individual candidates win more of those votes. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 21 Apr 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
The Perils of Building Democracy in Africa
Results from a text messaging experiment conducted before the 2013 National Election in Kenya show that basic information provided via short message service (SMS) resulted in small turnout increases but had a large effect on attitudes towards electoral institutions.
- 22 Mar 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Voter Registration Costs and Disenfranchisement: Experimental Evidence from France
In most democracies, voter registration is automatic and done by the state. But in a few others, such as the United States and France, registration is self-initiated: citizens who wish to vote must register first, and they need to do so again each time they move. This study examines the effects of canvassing and home registration of unregistered and misregistered citizens in 10 French cities.
- 16 Feb 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Diversity and Team Performance in a Kenyan Organization
A key question in organizations is whether there is an optimal balance between diversity and sameness within teams of workers. Findings from a field experiment within a nonprofit research organization based in Kenya suggest much of the tradeoff between diversity and sameness may come from the different effects diversity has along different dimensions of organizational structure. Diversity along the organization’s hierarchy improves both effort and performance.
- 11 Feb 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Do Interactions with Candidates Increase Voter Support and Participation? Experimental Evidence from Italy
Elections in established democracies regularly attract less than half of the voting-age population. This low electoral participation raises concerns for the overall legitimacy and stability of the democratic regimes. This study of a mid-sized city in northern Italy during the 2014 municipal elections finds that while volunteers’ visits increased participation by a significant 1.8 percentage points, surprisingly the candidates’ own visits affected neither the average voter nor any subgroup of the population, whether defined by age, gender, place of birth, or turnout history.
- 11 Feb 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Will a Five-Minute Discussion Change Your Mind? A Countrywide Experiment on Voter Choice in France
A countrywide field experiment conducted during François Hollande's door-to-door campaign for the 2012 French presidential election finds that one-on-one discussions with campaigners have strong potential to shift people's decisions even when the principal's control on campaign agents is limited. The implications reach beyond political campaigns to persuasive communication directed at consumers, donors, or investors.
- 13 Jan 2016
- Research & Ideas
The Problem with Productivity of Multi-Ethnic Teams
Ethnically diverse teams can be less productive than more homogenous teams, according to research in Kenya by Vincent Pons. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
Can Biometric Tracking Improve Healthcare Provision and Data Quality? Experimental Evidence from Tuberculosis Control in India
This paper shows the benefits of biometric technology for strengthening service delivery and improving reliability of government data. The technology improved productivity of health workers operating tuberculosis treatment centers and decreased misreporting.