Determinants of the Election Contributions Size: Evidence from the USA

Student: Opanasenko Dmitry

Educational Programme: Joint HSE-NES Undergraduate Program in Economics (Bachelor)

Year of Graduation: 2016

Individual contributions are the largest source of financing for political candidates. Being in a scholars’ focus for a long time, a theme of campaign donations were significantly developed. Scientists get to know, why people donate and what makes a candidate an attractive payee. However, it is still unclear, how contribution amount depends on a past sponsor’s relevant experience. I'm interested in the question, how the act of donating to a winner affects a sponsor’s decision to choose what sum to contribute during the next election cycle? Meanwhile, it is crucial to find new factors, which influence individual contributors’ decisions. My paper is an attempt to reveal a new group of sponsors whose contribution amount can be predicted by their donation activity during the previous elections.

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