TY  - JOUR
AU  - Rhode,Paul W.
AU  - Strumpf,Koleman
TI  - Historical Political Futures Markets: An International Perspective
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14377
PY  - 2008
Y2  - October 2008
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14377
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14377.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Paul Rhode
Economics Department
University of Michigan
205 Lorch Hall
611 Tappan St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1220
Tel: 734/647-5603
Fax: 734/764-2769
E-Mail: pwrhode@umich.edu

Koleman Strumpf
University of Kansas 
E-Mail: cigar@ku.edu
AB  - Political future markets, in which investors bet on election outcomes, are often thought a recent invention. Such markets in fact have a long history in many Western countries.  This paper traces the operation of political futures markets back to 16th Century Italy, 18th Century Britain, and 19th Century United States.  In the United States, election betting was a common part of political campaigns in the antebellum period, but became increasingly concentrated in the organized futures markets in New York City over the postbellum period.
ER  -