The effect of close elections on the life expectancy of politicians: Winners outlive losers by over a year, on average

Run for your life? The effect of close elections on the life expectancy of politicians. Mark Borgschulte, Jacob Vogler. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, September 24 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2019.09.003

Highlights
•    Examine effect of winning or losing a close election on the life expectancy of candidates.
•    Regression discontinuity design estimated using newly-collected data on winning and losing candidates for governor, senator, and representative in the United States.
•    Winners outlive losers by over a year, on average.
•    Largest effects for governors and candidates who run later in US history.
•    No discernable effect of stress on life expectancy.

Abstract: We estimate the causal effect of election to political office on natural lifespan using a regression discontinuity design and a novel dataset of winning and losing candidates for US governor, senator, and House representative. We find that candidates gain over a year of life from winning a close election. The effect is strongest for governors, and has grown larger over the course of US history. We also examine the effect of stress experienced in office, finding that serving in more challenging situations is not associated with reduced lifespan.