Voting is the most effective and important way to participate in the democratic process. But what if you can’t get behind any of the candidates listed?

Instead of leaving the ballot paper blank or simply not going to the polls at all, in some countries undecided voters and those disenchanted with politics have another option: They can select “none of the above.” This option is available in countries such as India and Colombia, for example.

Anita Zednik and Ben Greiner wondered how such an option would influence election outcomes. To investigate this question, they developed a multi-stage study design and looked at two particularly controversial referendums: the 2016 presidential elections in Austria and the USA, won by Alexander van der Bellen and Donald Trump, respectively.

The research shows that, in both of the countries studied, a “none of the above” option would have channeled many protest votes. However, a subsequent experiment also revealed potential drawbacks: If protest candidates receive fewer votes because a “none of the above” option is available, this primarily strengthens the established parties, giving them even less incentive to address the criticism voiced by protest voters.

So what’s the bottom line? Should we introduce a “none of the above” option on our ballot sheets? In the video, Anita Zednik and Ben Greiner provide arguments for and against the idea – and call for further research. In an interview held at their institute, the researchers also told us how they come up with their research topics and what other exciting projects they are currently working on.

In the research you carried out together, you looked at the potential benefits of a “none of the above” option in elections. How did you arrive at this topic?

Ben Greiner: Before I joined WU, I worked at an Australian university. There, we noticed that many Australians cast invalid votes – around four percent are not uncommon. In the UK, in contrast, this figure is only around 0.2 percent, even though the two countries have very similar electoral systems. The one big difference is that Australia has mandatory voting, whereas the UK does not. This led us to hypothesize that it might primarily be uninformed people who cast invalid votes because they are forced to go to the polls.

Anita Zednik: The second hypothesis was that protest sentiments play a major role – in other words, that people want to express their dissatisfaction with “those at the top.” This was already a hot topic back in 2016 when Donald Trump was first elected president. So the idea that a NOTA option might channel these protest votes was an obvious one.

Ben Greiner: Our research has shown that this protest sentiment is indeed the decisive factor. A lack of political information, on the other hand, did not play a decisive role in selecting the NOTA option in the elections we looked at in the USA and Austria. So our experiments did not back up our original hypothesis.

Looking through your publication lists, it becomes clear that you’ve been working on a very wide variety of topics. Is there any common denominator they all share? And if yes, how would you describe it?

Anita Zednik: Here at the Institute for Markets and Strategy, we’re interested in everything that has to do with strategic interactions. And strategic behavior is something you can see everywhere, not just in business.  

Ben Greiner: Our method serves as a common denominator: Our research is largely experimental, but we often combine the experiments with empirical data or simulations. We’re interested in topics that are not only interesting in an academic context but also have an impact in real life. We often arrive at a particular research topic through our personal experiences. For example, I did research on eBay because I had some personal experience dealing with eBay and wondered how people behave there.

Anita Zednik: We also did a project where we investigated the strategies parents use when choosing an elementary school for their children. This research topic was also inspired by our own personal experience with this issue – we’re both parents, and our own children have gone through the process of enrolling in a school. If a topic is relevant to us in our personal lives, this is usually a good indicator that it’s relevant to other people as well.

And what are you working on in your current research?

Anita Zednik: As I just mentioned, we’ve been working on a project focusing on the allocation of children to elementary schools in Vienna. I did the registration data analysis for this project. The data show that parents behave strategically to get their child into their preferred school. For example, they intervene with the school or with the city school board – or they even change their registered place of residence at short notice. However, this behavior has negative effects on families who do not resort to these strategies, and it also reduces the efficiency of the school system overall.

Ben Greiner: We’re also currently working on a related project where we’re trying to improve the allocation of WU students to specializations in their degree programs. We’re currently carrying out an empirical data analysis to find out what’s the best place to start here.

What do you particularly like about WU as a workplace?

Ben Greiner: The freedom we have in our research – and the fact that there’s a niche for everything here. I’ve always been surprised to see the diverse range of approaches that exist here, both methodologically and thematically. And I also have to say that the administration is surprisingly efficient compared to other universities.

Anita Zednik: I like the location next to the Prater park and the atmosphere here at our institute. It’s simply a nice place to work. I also find the international student body very inspiring.

Do you have a favorite place on Campus WU?

Ben Greiner: Definitely, my office. I have a sensational view of the campus from here.

Anita Zednik: I like walking around on campus. I enjoy watching how the different grasses and other plants change over the course of the year, and I like how the modern architecture interacts with the old floodplain forest.