Endogeneity Problem on Economic Approach Voting

Endogeneity Problem on Economic Approach Voting
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Endogeneity Problem on Economic Approach Voting
Introduction
Every time electorates line up to go and vote, they are always driven and pushed by some elements that inform their choices on their preferred candidates for various positions. Studies have also shown that there is no single way of determining how and why individuals make their voting decisions. However, experts have established several theories to try and explain the different voting behaviors of individuals. One such theory is the economic theory, which despite being established in 1970, its effects on voting were felt from as early as the 1930s. The economic theory does focus on electorate self-interests through the principle of calculations that allows voters to weigh on the candidate whose leadership is more likely to benefits them at personal levels. This approach, however, does have several variables that affect voters differently. This paper explores why and how Endogeneity is a problem for the economic approach to voting behavior among electorates.
Why Endogeneity is a problem for Economic Approach to Voting
With so many variables to look at before deciding on how to vote, voters are usually left in a dilemma on whether to stick on a single element alone when vetting the preferred candidate or whether to incorporate other variables such as candidate’s party, political experience, political ideologies among several other factors. For instance, a candidate might express the qualities of a good economist, hence showing substantial prospects of reviving a country's economy on the one hand. On the other hand, the same candidate might have zero or little qualities regarding security policies. With such differences, an electorate economic approach towards voting is most likely going to be influenced. As a result, the voter might decide to change his or her preference and vote for an alternative candidate who might not be having the best economic qualities but better security policies. This way, the candidates’ traits and the voter's self-interests form part of the variable that informs the voter's decision.
The other reason why Endogeneity is a problem for the economic approach to electorate voting behavior is that different voters come from diverse backgrounds, and there is no universal way of determining common values across diverse backgrounds. This is to say that one set of people might value certain traits while another group might fail to find any significance in the same traits. For instance, one group might value infrastructure, while the other might value industrialization as the most preferred economic development. With the differentiation on what different groupings prioritize or expect from the candidates, a problem arises. That is how the two opposing groups inform the differentiation of preferred candidates. Therefore, such occurrences form a perfect example of how the availability of several dependent variables is likely to influence the electorate economic approach, which eventually affects their voting behaviors.
How Endogeneiity Affects Economic Approach to Voting Behaviour
As alluded to earlier in the previous section, electorates come from diverse backgrounds, and the activities and beliefs from their backgrounds inform their perception. This section focuses on the same notion. To understand how Endogeneity affects the electorate's economic approach towards their voting behaviors, the section dissects the illustration in major ways, with each focusing on various sects of voters. The first set of voters to illustrate how Endogeneity influences the electorate's voting behavior are the rational voters. These sects of voters are usually well informed as they fetch for the necessary information to vet candidates and are also good in processing the information to make an informed decision. Before deciding which candidate to vote for, they prioritize qualities of the vying candidates from the weightiest to the less weighty, and the candidate who scores better on the weightiest issues automatically becomes their choice.
A lot of information that rational candidates usually look at concerning the candidates forms part of several independent variables. Therefore, if economic interests do not fall among the weightiest issues from the voters’ perspective, they are then overlooked in the process of determining how to vote. This way, the more information a voter interacts with about the candidates, the more variables they encounter, reducing the probability of having economic variables as part of the weighty matters. As a result, the voters' behaviors get to be based on other matters besides economy, such as the candidates' and personalities, if the rational voters perceive the two variables to be of much weight compared to the former.
The second set of voters that can illustrate how Endogeneity affects the economic approach in terms of voting patterns are voters whose decision...