Abstract
Through 1992, federal election campaign laws and House rules permit U.S. Representatives holding office on 8 January 1980, to personally claim unspent campaign contributions when they retire, while other House members have to forfeit such sums. These rules provide differential incentives to pre-1980 members to more aggressively seek and yet refrain from spending political contributions than other House members. Regression estimates suggest that the privilege was worth almost $71,700 to the typical pre-1980 House member during the 1987–88 election cycle.
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I wish to thank Joe Bell, George Chressanthis, John Hoftyzer and an anonymous referee for helpful comments.
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Wyrick, T.L. House members as residual claimants: Campaign spending in the 1980s. Public Choice 79, 135–147 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01047923
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01047923
Keywords
- Public Finance
- Regression Estimate
- Election Campaign
- Election Cycle
- Campaign Contribution