| Legislative voting records from the 106th and 107 th congresses, 1998--2002, are used to derive a voting index, the E-score, which endeavors to measure the strength of legislators' preferences for economic efficiency. Congressional district and state level data, party affiliation, and legislator-specific characteristics are employed in an attempt to explain this index. Additionally, this index is compared to ten popular interest group ratings. Beyond party affiliation, there are identifiable constituency demographics and legislator-specific characteristics that seem to influence the weight given by legislators to considerations of efficiency. There is evidence that legislators supply policies that result in greater inefficiency in response to the demands from constituents who stand to gain from such policies. There is also evidence that the heterogeneity of a district has a negative impact on a legislator's commitment to efficiency. |
