The Political Economy of Zero-Sum Thinking
Theoretical Economics
2024-09-25 v1
Abstract
This paper offers a strategic rationale for zero-sum thinking in elections. We show that asymmetric information and distributional considerations together make voters wary of policies supported by others. This force impels a majority of voters to support policies contrary to their preferences and information. Our analysis identifies and interprets a form of "adverse correlation" that is necessary and sufficient for zero-sum thinking to prevail in equilibrium.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2409.15946,
title = {The Political Economy of Zero-Sum Thinking},
author = {S. Nageeb Ali and Maximilian Mihm and Lucas Siga},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2409.15946},
year = {2024}
}