Cross-national analyses of economic voting

The present paper replicates and extends Powell and Whitten's study of comparative economic voting (Powell, G. Bingham and Whitten, Guy D. (1993) A Cross-National Analysis of Economic Voting: Taking Account of the Political Context. American Journal of political Science 37, 391-414). We extend Powell and Whitten's research in three ways. First, we have developed a theoretically more appealing method for dividing our cases according to the clarity of government responsibility. Second, we consider whether the electoral effect of economic growth varies with government composition, with large coalitions focusing on the consensual goal of improving economic growth. Thrid, 40 new cases have been added to the original 102 analyzed by Powell and Whitten. Using a more appropriate methodology and an expanded data set, we find strong confirmation of the results presented in Powell and Whitten's study. We also find evidence that supports our theory about coalition governments and economic growth.