Beyond Asset Ownership: Swedish Tax Data Reveals Economic Voting Depends on Value, Not Just Possession

Recent economic voting research has shifted beyond viewing the economy solely through a reward-punishment lens. This study explores voters' roles as property owners in Sweden using unique data from tax records and surveys.

Previously, patrimonial effects were studied by simply measuring asset possession across different types of property. However, this approach overlooked a crucial aspect: the value of those assets.

Drawing on Swedish Tax Agency register data merged with survey responses, we find that asset ownership's influence on voting emerges only when considering asset value. This finding aligns with prior studies but fills a significant gap in methodology.

Our analysis reveals three key insights:

• Asset value, not just type (e.g., stocks vs. bonds), matters for economic voting.
• Higher-value assets exert stronger influence on voter behavior than lower-risk ones like savings accounts or less valuable real estate.
• Simply asking about asset possession is insufficient to capture this dimension of political attitudes.

This confirms descriptive representation theory while refining our understanding of the rational choice model. It suggests that voters' economic preferences are shaped by their financial position within institutional arrangements.