An Empirical Analysis of Participatory Budgeting in Amsterdam

Abstract

Using data from 35 Participatory Budgeting instances in Amsterdam, we empirically compare two different Participatory Budgeting rules: the greedy cost welfare rule and the Method of Equal Shares. We quantify how proportional, equal and fair the rules are and conclude that, for a small price in total voter satisfaction, the Method of Equal Shares performs better on all notions of fairness studied. We further provide a popular and a visual explanation of the Method of Equal Shares.