HOME | Jordan Hamzawi

Available for:

2021 Employment

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MY CV

Campaign Expenditure

How much does a candidate spend relative to their district rivals? How much do parties spend relative to one another? I've plotted the expenditure share of candidates and parties in Japan within districts using the JHRED dataset (2012) as a measure of campaign valence. The incumbent party (DPJ) outspent the others by quite a bit. However, this did not carry over to the candidate level. DPJ candidates were, on average, outspent by their LDP rivals. The DPJ had many reasons for its 2012 defeat, but falling behind in Yen-per-candidate probably didn't help.

Who is Riding Whose Coattails

Japan uses a type of mixed-member majoritarian (MMM) that grants voters two votes: one for a candidate and one for a party. This led me to think, "If presidents and prime ministers can have a coattail effect, why not candidates and their parties?" This plot shows when candidates are running ahead of their parties in vote share (above the colored line) and when they are running behind (below the line). The question is, what separates them? The work is in progress, but I think the premise is both intriguing and promising!

Campaign Valence and Vote Differential

Following up with my coattails question, here's a look at vote differentials and campaign valence. What's a vote differential? A candidate's vote share minus his or her party's vote share. What's campaign valence? The share of a candidate's expenses within his or her district minus the share of expenses of his or her party relative to other parties. The theory is that the more flush with Yen candidates are compared with their rivals, the more effectively they can campaign and the better they will perform. The same can be said of parties relative to other parties. But what happens when you compare the two? Based on the plot, candidates that are campaign valence advantaged with respect to their parties will run ahead of their parties at the polls.

TESTIMONIALS

"Going to be a great professor. This class was better than most I've taken with tenured experts in the regular year."

CURRENT PROJECTS

Policy-valence dynamics between candidates and parties
Knock-on effects of mixed member majoritarian electoral systems

UPCOMING EVENTS