‘There is ample anecdotal evidence on political parties bribing voters with cash or consumption goods prior to elections, in India and other developing countries. However, there is an expected lack of hard evidence on the extent and form of vote-buying.’
This is an excerpt from a recent article by the School’s Dr Anirban Mitra, Shabana Mitra and Arnab Mukherji (Indian Institute of Management Bangalore) published in Ideas for India, which analyses consumption patterns of households around elections, and finds a spike for some items just before elections.
You can read the full article here: http://ideasforindia.in/article.aspx?article_id=1802