Abstract
Voter education campaigns often aim to increase political participation and accountability. We followed a randomized campaign against electoral violence sponsored by an international NGO during the 2007 Nigerian elections. This paper investigates whether the effects of the campaign were transmitted indirectly through kinship, chatting, and geographical proximity. For individuals personally targeted by campaigners, we estimate the reinforcement effect of proximity to other targeted individuals. For individuals who self-report to be untargeted by campaigners, we estimate the diffusion of the campaign depending on proximity to targeted individuals. We find evidence for both effects, particularly on perceptions of violence. Effects are large in magnitude - often similar to the average effect of the campaign. Kinship is the strongest channel of reinforcement and diffusion. We also find that geographical proximity transmits simple effects on perceptions, and that chatting conveys more complex effects on behavior.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 27-48 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| Journal | Journal Of Development Economics |
| Volume | 101 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Mar 2013 |
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Keywords
- Field experiment
- Nigeria
- Political violence
- Social networks
- Voter education
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Political violence and social networks : experimental evidence from a Nigerian election. / Fafchamps, Marcel; Vicente, Pedro C.
In: Journal Of Development Economics, Vol. 101, No. 1, 01.03.2013, p. 27-48.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Political violence and social networks
T2 - experimental evidence from a Nigerian election
AU - Fafchamps, Marcel
AU - Vicente, Pedro C.
PY - 2013/3/1
Y1 - 2013/3/1
N2 - Voter education campaigns often aim to increase political participation and accountability. We followed a randomized campaign against electoral violence sponsored by an international NGO during the 2007 Nigerian elections. This paper investigates whether the effects of the campaign were transmitted indirectly through kinship, chatting, and geographical proximity. For individuals personally targeted by campaigners, we estimate the reinforcement effect of proximity to other targeted individuals. For individuals who self-report to be untargeted by campaigners, we estimate the diffusion of the campaign depending on proximity to targeted individuals. We find evidence for both effects, particularly on perceptions of violence. Effects are large in magnitude - often similar to the average effect of the campaign. Kinship is the strongest channel of reinforcement and diffusion. We also find that geographical proximity transmits simple effects on perceptions, and that chatting conveys more complex effects on behavior.
AB - Voter education campaigns often aim to increase political participation and accountability. We followed a randomized campaign against electoral violence sponsored by an international NGO during the 2007 Nigerian elections. This paper investigates whether the effects of the campaign were transmitted indirectly through kinship, chatting, and geographical proximity. For individuals personally targeted by campaigners, we estimate the reinforcement effect of proximity to other targeted individuals. For individuals who self-report to be untargeted by campaigners, we estimate the diffusion of the campaign depending on proximity to targeted individuals. We find evidence for both effects, particularly on perceptions of violence. Effects are large in magnitude - often similar to the average effect of the campaign. Kinship is the strongest channel of reinforcement and diffusion. We also find that geographical proximity transmits simple effects on perceptions, and that chatting conveys more complex effects on behavior.
KW - Field experiment
KW - Nigeria
KW - Political violence
KW - Social networks
KW - Voter education
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84867899537&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2012.09.003
DO - 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2012.09.003
M3 - Article
VL - 101
SP - 27
EP - 48
JO - Journal Of Development Economics
JF - Journal Of Development Economics
SN - 0304-3878
IS - 1
ER -