Workplace Peer Effects in Turnout

Abstract

The potential for peer pressure at the workplace is high since social interactions are frequent and we care about our social standing at work. Peer effects in politics at the workplace are important to understand since workplaces are becoming more sorted according to human capital, which implies that workplace peer effects can increase social inequalities in turnout. To quantify peer effects we use population-wide administrative data from Sweden that covers several general elections and allows us to measure the turnout of colleagues. To identify peer effects we use the turnout of colleagues’ family members in earlier elections as an instrumental variable, and leverage the richness of the data to assess assumptions, improve interpretation, and study heterogeneity. Our estimates suggest that workplace peer effects contribute to social inequality in turnout.