A Spatial Theory of Positive and Negative Campaigning

Authors

Joseph E. Harrington Jr,, Johns Hopkins University
Gregory Hess, Claremont McKenna CollegeFollow

Document Type

Article

Department

Economics (CMC)

Publication Date

1996

Abstract

In order to explore the content of electoral campaigns, this paper makes two modifications to Hotelling's model of spatial competition. First, we assume that agents inherit initial locations and engage in costly relocation. Second, an agent's relocation is affected by her rival's actions. We investigate how a candidate allocates resources between positive campaigning—which influences voters' perceptions of her own ideology—and negative campaigning—which influences her opponent's perceived ideology. Our theory predicts that the candidate who is perceived as having less attractive personal attributes runs a relatively more negative campaign. The theory's implications are illustrated for the 1988 presidential election.Journal of Economic LiteratureClassification Numbers: C7, H0.

Rights Information

© 1996 Academic Press

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

DOI

10.1006/game.1996.0103

Recommended Citation

Joseph E. Harrington, Jr., Gregory D. Hess, A Spatial Theory of Positive and Negative Campaigning, Games and Economic Behavior, Volume 17, Issue 2, December 1996, Pages 209-229, ISSN 0899-8256, 10.1006/game.1996.0103. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899825696901037)