Media Bias in Financial Newspapers: Evidence from Early-Twentieth-Century France

University of Paris West Nanterre La Défense, Economix Working Papers Series # 2009-4

35 Pages Posted: 28 Nov 2009

See all articles by Vincent Bignon

Vincent Bignon

Banque de France

Antonio Miscio

Columbia University; Boston Consulting Group

Date Written: October 1, 2009

Abstract

The financial market was well developed in France in the years before World War I, and there were many newspapers that provided information to investors. Yet commentators at the time faulted the financial press for inaccuracy and biases, which they linked to the existence of payments made by companies for coverage in the editorial section. This paper tests whether the payment scheme induced a systematic bias in the coverage of companies listed on the Paris stock exchanges by newspapers. The results show that, although firms’ media coverage was affected, the performance of firms actually touted by the press was good. Thus, the media bias can also be explained by newspapers choosing the companies' exposures according to their editorial policy.

Keywords: Media coverage, newspapers, media bias, financial markets

JEL Classification: G11, G12, L15, O16, N13

Suggested Citation

Bignon, Vincent and Miscio, Antonio, Media Bias in Financial Newspapers: Evidence from Early-Twentieth-Century France (October 1, 2009). University of Paris West Nanterre La Défense, Economix Working Papers Series # 2009-4, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1513244 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1513244

Vincent Bignon (Contact Author)

Banque de France ( email )

DGEI 49-1430
31 rue Croix des Petits Champs
Paris, 75001
France
+33142924330 (Phone)

Antonio Miscio

Columbia University ( email )

Boston Consulting Group ( email )

10 Hudson Yards
New York
New York, NY NY 10001
United States

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