Weekly office hours are open to Harvard researchers and staff to provide support for Dataverse 6.0. Demo of 6.0 will begin promptly at 11am.

Open Hours: Wednesdays, 11AM - 1PM

RSVP required to: support@dataverse.org

For any questions on how to share your data with Dataverse, contact: support@dataverse.org

See the seminar's full schedule here: Alberto Alesina Seminar on Political Economy

Today's Speaker

Brian Knight (Brown University), "The Rise of the Religious Right: Evidence from the Moral Majority and the Jimmy Carter Presidency"

Abstract

We investigate the rise of the religious right in the context of the Moral Majority and Jimmy Carter, the first Evangelical President. During Carter’s Presidency, Jerry Falwell, a key televangelist, headed the newly formed Moral Majority, which turned against the incumbent Carter, a Democrat, and campaigned for Ronald Reagan, a Republican, in the 1980 Election. To investigate the role of religious leaders in the political persuasion of followers, we first develop a theoretical model of multidimensional politics in which single issue voters follow issue leaders when choosing which candidates to support. Using data from county-level voting returns, exit polls, and surveys, we find that, consistent with our model predictions, Evangelical voters followed the lead of the Moral Majority, shifting from supporting Carter in 1976 to Reagan in 1980. Using the irregular terrain model, we also find persuasion effects in counties that were exposed to the televised ministry of Jerry Falwell.... Read more about Brian Knight (Alesina Seminar)

Weekly office hours are open to Harvard researchers and staff to provide support for Dataverse 6.0. Demo of 6.0 will begin promptly at 11am.

Open Hours: Wednesdays, 11AM - 1PM

RSVP required to: support@dataverse.org

For any questions on how to share your data with Dataverse, contact: support@dataverse.org

See the seminar's full schedule here: Alberto Alesina Seminar on Political Economy

Today's Speaker

Max Miller (HBS), "Who Values Democracy?"

Abstract

This paper tests redistribution-based theories of democratization using data from stock markets. Consistent with these models, I show democratizations have a large, negative impact on asset valuations driven by a rise in redistribution risk. Across 90 countries over 200 years, risk premia are substantially elevated in democratizations, similar in magnitude to financial crises. Using a shift in Catholic church doctrine in support of democracy, I provide causal evidence that democratizations increase risk premia. Successful democratizations lead to substantial redistribution: the size of the public sector grows, income inequality falls, and the labor share of income rises. A model of asset prices and political regimes in which wealthy asset market participants face redistribution risk in democratizations can quantitatively explain these effects. The model also explains the negligible asset pricing response to autocratizations. Neither an increase in macroeconomic risk nor generic political risk can explain the results.... Read more about Max Miller (Alesina Seminar)