Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://repositorio.insper.edu.br/handle/11224/3861
Type: | Tese |
Title: | Electoral competition and platform choice: a computational linguistics approach based on Brazilian data |
Author: | Pereira, Leila Albuquerque Rocha |
Examination board: | Novaes, Lucas Martins Corbi, Raphael Bottura Estevan, Fernanda Gonçalves de La Fuente Bueno, Natália Salgado |
Advisor: | Firpo, Sergio Pinheiro |
Academic degree: | Doutorado |
Publication Date: | 2021 |
Abstract: | This dissertation empirically investigates some valuable aspects of the electoral competition theories by taking advantage of computational linguistic methods that transform texts into data. I start by employing statistical text analysis methods (i.e., LDA model and Wordscores) to build and describe a unique dataset containing the topics discussed and the partisan-scores of Brazilian mayoral candidates' political platforms in 2012 and 2016 elections. Then, I use this dataset to test some theoretical implications of both the Downsian location models and the Salience Theory. From a Downsian perspective, I investigate the relationship between campaign spending and platform choice by testing whether a candidate's platform positioning strategy, compared to her opponent, is infuenced by the amount of money she can spend in an election. Then, from a Salience Theory perspective, I analyze the relationship between reputation and platform choice by estimating the incumbency effect on a candidate's platform issue concentration. In a nutshell, I find that candidates seem to be making strategic decisions concerning their platform's contents and partisan leaning. The data's descriptive analysis shows a systematic correlation between the candidate's characteristics and her platform's contents. Moreover, the empirical evidence supports the theories that connect platform choice to reputation but not the theories that establish a link between platform choice and campaign spending. In particular, I find that opposing candidates' strategies to diferentiate their platforms do not change significantly depending on the size of their campaign expenditures. Furthermore, I show that incumbents tend to produce more concentrated platforms than challengers. |
Keywords (english terms): | Electoral competition political platforms Downsian Models Salience theory natural language processing Latent Dirichlet Allocation wordscore discontinuos regression |
Language: | Inglês |
CNPq Area: | Ciências Sociais Aplicadas |
Copyright: | O INSPER E ESTE REPOSITÓRIO NÃO DETÊM OS DIREITOS DE USO E REPRODUÇÃO DOS CONTEÚDOS AQUI REGISTRADOS. É RESPONSABILIDADE DOS USUÁRIOS INDIVIDUAIS VERIFICAR OS USOS PERMITIDOS NA FONTE ORIGINAL, RESPEITANDO-SE OS DIREITOS DE AUTOR OU EDITOR |
Appears in Collections: | Doutorado em Economia dos Negócios |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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Leila_A_R_Pereira - Dissertation.pdf | Leila_A_R_Pereira - Dissertation | 5.21 MB | Adobe PDF | ![]() View/Open |
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