Financial stocks and political bonds: stock market participation and political behavior in the United States and Britain

Richardson, Munro C.

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Description

Title

Financial stocks and political bonds: stock market participation and political behavior in the United States and Britain

Author(s)

Richardson, Munro C.

Issue Date

2010-08-20T18:00:37Z

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Bernhard, William T.

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Bernhard, William T.

Committee Member(s)

• Hays, Jude C.
• Kuklinski, James H.
• Leblang, David

Department of Study

Political Science

Discipline

Political Science

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Stock market
• Investor class theory
• Partisanship
• Participation
• Political behavior

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the effect of stock market participation on political behavior. Some observers claim that financial assets—stocks and mutual funds—have a causal effect on political behavior. The “investor class theory” asserts that as people invest in the stock market their partisan attachments shift rightward. The “asset effect theory” claims that financial investments increase political interest and participation. I examine these claims with longitudinal data from the United States and Great Britain covering a twenty-year period from the early 1980s through the mid-2000’s. I also examine the effect of financial asset ownership on political attitudes in the United States during the 2008 stock market crash. I find no evidence to support the argument that stock market participation has any causal effect on partisanship, participation, or political attitudes.

Graduation Semester

2010-08

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/16879

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2010 Munro C. Richardson

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