nep-cul New Economics Papers
on Cultural Economics
Issue of 2017‒03‒05
four papers chosen by
Roberto Zanola
Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale

  1. Algerian national media: freedom at a cost By Fatima El-Issawi
  2. Geography and Media – Does a Local Editorial Office Increase the Consumption of Local News? By Kekezi, Orsa; Mellander, Charlotta
  3. How Effective Are Advertising Bans? On the Demand for Quality in Two-Sided Media Markets By Sahm, Marco; Greiner, Tanja
  4. Politicians under Investigation: The News Media’s Effect on the Likelihood of Resignation By Sörensen, Jil; Garz, Marcel

  1. By: Fatima El-Issawi
    Abstract: This report on Algerian national media and political change is part of the ‘Arab National Media and Politics: Democracy Revisited’ project, examining the relationship between Arab traditional mass media and the political sphere within the broad subject area of political change in the Arab world. Based on a series of around 30 in-depth qualitative interviews conducted with journalists and media stakeholders in Algeria, as well as analysis of media regulation and individual case studies, this report looks at the role played by national media – radio, television and print – in widening, or restricting, public debate under a competitive authoritarian system.
    JEL: L91 L96
    Date: 2017–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:69567&r=cul
  2. By: Kekezi, Orsa (Jönköping International Business School (JIBS)); Mellander, Charlotta (Jönköping International Business School (JIBS))
    Abstract: Urbanization and new digital technologies have significantly altered the news media industry. One major change is the disappearance of local editorial offices in many regions. This paper examines if there is a relation between access to local media in terms of editorial offices and journalists, and the likelihood of the public consuming local news. The study builds on fine level data for Sweden in 2006 and in 2013, allowing for a comparison of trends. Our results suggest that the existence of an editorial office in the municipality is not significantly related to the consumption of local newspapers but that accessibility to employed journalists who live in the municipality is.
    Keywords: urbanization; digitization; editorial offices; journalist location; local media access; media consumption
    JEL: O33 R22 R23
    Date: 2017–02–23
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0447&r=cul
  3. By: Sahm, Marco; Greiner, Tanja
    Abstract: We study a two-sided markets model of two competing television broadcasters that offer content of differentiated quality to ad-averse consumers and advertising space to firms. As all consumers prefer high over low quality content, competition for viewers is vertical. By contrast, competition for advertisers is horizontal, taking into account the firms' targeted advertising motive. Analyzing the impact of both, the strength of mutual externalities and advertisement regulation policies, we find the following results: First, broadcasters' profits increase and welfare decreases in the viewers' nuisance costs of advertising. Second, welfare may decrease in the effectiveness of informative advertisement, too. Third, an advertising ban on the high quality medium reduces its viewer market share and thereby the equilibrium reception of high quality content.
    JEL: L13 L82 L51
    Date: 2016
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc16:145724&r=cul
  4. By: Sörensen, Jil; Garz, Marcel
    Abstract: This paper studies the effect of news media on the probability of resignation from office of politicians being subject to criminal investigation. Using data on cases in which the political immunity of German representatives was lifted, we find that resignations are more common when the media covers the case intensely. The amounts of this news coverage, in turn, depend on the availability of other newsworthy, exogenous events. Therefore, we instrument for coverage of lifts of immunity with the overall news pressure. We estimate the causal effect and find that a 1 standard deviation increase in the amount of the coverage raises the likelihood of resignation by 22.3 percentage points.
    Keywords: news media; political accountability; prosecution; resignation
    JEL: K14 L82 P16
    Date: 2016
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc16:145531&r=cul

This nep-cul issue is ©2017 by Roberto Zanola. It is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. It may be freely redistributed in whole or in part for any purpose. If distributed in part, please include this notice.
General information on the NEP project can be found at http://nep.repec.org. For comments please write to the director of NEP, Marco Novarese at <director@nep.repec.org>. Put “NEP” in the subject, otherwise your mail may be rejected.
NEP’s infrastructure is sponsored by the School of Economics and Finance of Massey University in New Zealand.