The Effect of Newspaper Entry and Exit on Electoral Politics

61 Pages Posted: 19 Nov 2009

See all articles by Matthew Gentzkow

Matthew Gentzkow

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Jesse M. Shapiro

Harvard University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Michael Sinkinson

Yale SOM

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: November 17, 2009

Abstract

We use new data on entries and exits of US daily newspapers from 1869 to 2004 to estimate effects on political participation, party vote shares, and electoral competitiveness. Our identification strategy exploits the precise timing of these events and allows for the possibility of confounding trends. We find that newspapers have a robust positive effect on political participation, with one additional newspaper increasing both presidential and congressional turnout by approximately 0:3 percentage points. Newspaper competition is not a key driver of turnout: our effect is driven mainly by the first newspaper in a market, and the effect of a second or third paper is significantly smaller. The effect on presidential turnout diminishes after the introduction of radio and television, while the estimated effect on congressional turnout remains similar up to recent years. We find no evidence that partisan newspapers affect party vote shares, with confidence intervals that rule out even moderate-sized effects. We find no clear evidence that newspapers systematically help or hurt incumbents.

Keywords: newspapers, turnout, persuasion, political competition

JEL Classification: L82, D72, N81

Suggested Citation

Gentzkow, Matthew Aaron and Shapiro, Jesse M. and Sinkinson, Michael, The Effect of Newspaper Entry and Exit on Electoral Politics (November 17, 2009). Chicago Booth Research Paper No. 09-47, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1508431 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1508431

Matthew Aaron Gentzkow (Contact Author)

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business ( email )

5807 S. Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Jesse M. Shapiro

Harvard University - Department of Economics ( email )

Littauer Center
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Michael Sinkinson

Yale SOM ( email )

127 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
145
Abstract Views
2,310
Rank
284,996
PlumX Metrics