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This paper analyses the effect of information disseminated by the Internet on voting behavior. We address endogeneity in Internet availability by exploiting regional and technological peculiarities of the preexisting voice telephony network that hinder the roll-out of fixed-line broadband infrastructure for high-speed Internet. We find small negative effects of Internet availability on voter turnout, and no evidence that the Internet systematically benefits single parties. Robustness tests including placebo estimations from the pre-Internet era confirm our results. We relate differences in the Internet effect between national and local elections to a crowding out of national but not local newspapers.JEL Codes: D72, C50, L86

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We incorporate the concept of social identity into entrepreneurship and analyze the determinants of having entrepreneurial intentions. We argue that an entrepreneurial identity results from an individual's socialization. This could be parental influence but, as argued in this paper, also peer influence. Based on Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006 data in which students report their entrepreneurial intentions at the age of 15, we find that having an entrepreneurial peer group has a positive effect on an individual's entrepreneurial intentions. We find that the strength of the peer effect in a country is moderated by prevailing values, namely individualism

We study the effect of cultural ties on economic exchange using a novel measure for cultural identity: dialects. We evaluate linguistic micro-data from a unique language survey conducted between 1879 and 1888 in about 45,000 German schools. The recorded geography of dialects comprehensively portrays local cultural similarities that have been evolving for centuries, and provides an ideal opportunity to measure cultural barriers to economic exchange at a fine geographical scale. In a gravity analysis we show that cross-regional migration flows in the period 2000-2006 are positively affected by historical dialect similarity. Using different empirical strategies, we show that this finding indicates highly time-persistent cultural ties that foster economic exchange across regions

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. www.econstor.eu We analyze the extent to which endogenous cultural amenities affect the spatial equilibrium share of high-human-capital employees. To overcome endogeneity, we draw on a quasinatural experiment in German history and exploit the exogenous spatial distribution of baroque opera houses built as a part of rulers' competition for prestigious cultural amenities. Robustness tests confirm our strategy and strengthen the finding that proximity to a baroque opera house significantly affects the spatial equilibrium share of high-human-capital employees. Then, a cross-region growth regression shows that these employees induce local knowledge spillovers and shift a location to a higher growth path. Terms of use: Documents in D I S C U S S I O N P A P E R S E R I E S NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARYBaroque rulers' pomposity and quest for prestige accidentally affect economic growth today. The theory that you can only spend what you have was not a popular one among the absolutistic rulers of this era and it was not uncommon for rulers to incur huge debts and engage in deficit spending in their quest for grandeur. One remnant of this time is the baroque opera houses that are still found throughout Germany. The regional distribution of baroque opera houses today suggests that it is not primarily the regions' historic economic prosperity that explains their existence. Based on this observation, the paper addresses the chicken and egg problem of whether economic success leads to a rich cultural life or vice versa.In light of studies that illustrate the concentration of both bohemians and human capital in prospering cities, one might assume that a concentration of cultural amenities attracts human capital. However, it could just as easily be the other way around, where a concentration of human capital in the form of highly skilled workers who have not only an appreciation for artistic output, but for the money to indulge in that taste, will attract bohemians. In our empirical analyses, we find that proximity to one of 29 baroque opera houses across Germany has a positive effect on the regional share of high-human-capital employees which then stimulates regional growth.Our advice to local policymakers is to be aware of the value of cultural amenities when competing for high-human-capital individuals. However, local policymakers should also carefully consider the possibility of unwanted side effects from redistributing resources to cultural amenities at the expense of othe...

We identify the causal effect of trade-integration with China and Eastern Europe on voting in Germany from 1987 to 2009. Looking at the entire political spectrum, we find that only extreme-right parties respond significantly to trade integration. Their vote share increases with import competition and decreases with export access opportunities. We unpack mechanisms using reduced form evidence and a causal mediation analysis. Two-thirds of the total effect of trade integration on voting appears to be driven by observable labor market adjustments, primarily changes in manufacturing employment. These results are mirrored in an individual-level analysis in the German Socioeconomic Panel.

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