Voting Behavior and Economics - An Analysis of Individual and Municipal Voting Behavior in Sweden

Abstract: This study aims to determine if there is a relationship between a few chosen socio-economic and economic factors and the results of the 2006 and 2010 Swedish elections. The thesis relates to both individual- and municipal levels. By using logistic and OLS regressions, for our individual and municipal data, respectively, we found links between some of our chosen factors and the election results. We see clear differences between our four regressions, which shows clear distinctions between the Moderate and the Social Democratic Party. The thesis found a positive effect of a higher degree of financial assistance in a municipality on the vote for the Social Democratic Party. Similarly, the same variable was negative for the Moderate Party. The same contrary relationship occurs for higher education level, where the variable is positive for the Moderate Party and negative for the Social Democratic Party. Concluding our thesis, we discuss how individual socio-economic factors may not be as important, and contemplate whether individual data are less relevant than collecting broader municipal data, with the aim of finding the effects of socio-economic and economic factors on a vote.