Despite the vast literature on economic voting, there is no agreement on what influence,
if any, economic considerations at the various possible levels (personal, community, or sociotropic)
have upon presidential approval and vote choice. Part of the reason for this disagreement
is the inherent complexity of the political environment. Thus, in a setting devoid
of all but economic considerations, this experimental study allows for variation across the
three levels of economic conditions, directly caused by executive behavior, and tests for pocketbook,
communal, and sociotropic effects. Specifically, by manipulating the distribution of
incomes within and between communities, and by allowing subjects to request certain economic
indicators, we gain leverage on what information is relevant and to what extent the
economy matters. This project offers what we believe to be the first experimental study to
explicitly study the question of how multiple levels of economic considerations influence vote
choice.