Does height affect voting behavior beyond income? This study explores how height serves as a useful proxy for economic status. Using data from the British Household Panel Study, researchers find taller individuals are more likely to vote Conservative and support conservative policies. A seemingly modest one-inch increase in height corresponds with a 0.6% higher probability of supporting Conservatives.
Height isn't just correlated but also predicts political preferences independently. To further test this relationship, the study cleverly uses height as an instrumental variable for income itself. This method reveals that each additional £1,000 in annual income increases the likelihood of Conservative preference by 2-3 percentage points.
The results have important implications: they confirm income drives voting preferences but show how physical traits can influence electoral behavior through economic status or other pathways.
| Height, Income and Voting was authored by Raj Arunachalam and Sara Watson. It was published by Cambridge in BJPS in 2018. |
