• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Referenda on Hosting the Olympics: What Drives Voter Turnout?
  • Contributor: Streicher, Tobias; Schmidt, Sascha L.; Schreyer, Dominik
  • Published: SAGE Publications, 2019
  • Published in: Journal of Sports Economics, 20 (2019) 5, Seite 627-653
  • Language: English
  • DOI: 10.1177/1527002518794777
  • ISSN: 1527-0025; 1552-7794
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: Public referenda have recently put an end to the ambitions of several cities to host the Olympic Games. The outcome of referenda depends on two major decisions: a content decision whether to support hosting the Olympics and a turnout decision whether or not to cast a vote. Unlike the content decision, the turnout decision has received little attention in sports economics, even though it can distort the outcome of a referendum, lead to a misrepresentation of minorities, and reduce the acceptance of referendum results. We therefore examine the determinants of turnout at Olympic referenda using a population-representative data set from 12 democratic countries. Our findings suggest a nonlinear and robust relationship between individual support and voter turnout.