Youth Enfranchisement, Political Responsiveness, and Education Expenditure: Evidence from the US
研究美国青年政治参与如何影响财政政策，发现预登记法提高青年投票率，进而促使州政府增加高等教育支出，表明政治对新增选民需求的回应。
We examine the link between the political participation of the young and fiscal policies in the United States. We generate exogenous variation in participation using the passage of preregistration laws, which allow the young to register before being eligible to vote. After documenting that preregistration promotes youth enfranchisement, we show that preregistration shifts state government spending toward higher education, the type of spending for which the young have the strongest preference. A 1 percent increase in youth voter turnout generates a 0.77 percent increase in higher education spending. The results collectively suggest political responsiveness to the needs of the newly enfranchised constituency.