American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Institutional Corruption and Election Fraud: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Afghanistan
American Economic Review
vol. 105,
no. 1, January 2015
(pp. 354–81)
Abstract
We investigate the relationship between political networks, weak institutions, and election fraud during the 2010 parliamentary election in Afghanistan combining: (i) data on political connections between candidates and election officials; (ii) a nationwide controlled evaluation of a novel monitoring technology; and (iii) direct measurements of aggregation fraud. We find considerable evidence of aggregation fraud in favor of connected candidates and that the announcement of a new monitoring technology reduced theft of election materials by about 60 percent and vote counts for connected candidates by about 25 percent. The results have implications for electoral competition and are potentially actionable for policymakers. (JEL C93, D02, D72, K42, O17)Citation
Callen, Michael, and James D. Long. 2015. "Institutional Corruption and Election Fraud: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Afghanistan." American Economic Review, 105 (1): 354–81. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20120427Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- C93 Field Experiments
- D02 Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
- D72 Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
- K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
- O17 Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements