Media Coverage and Political Accountability: Theory and Evidence

36 Pages Posted: 1 Jun 2015

See all articles by David Strömberg

David Strömberg

Stockholm University - Institute for International Economic Studies (IIES); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Date Written: May 2015

Abstract

This chapter investigates how media coverage filters information and how this affects political accountability and policy. I first present a baseline model of media coverage and its affect political accountability. The model is used to discuss the welfare consequences of private provision of news. It shows how media regulation and public broadcasting may correct market failures, notably the under-provision of news. The model also supplies an array of testable implications, used to organize the existing empirical work. The key empirical questions are: what drives media coverage of politics; how does this coverage influence the information levels and the voting behavior of the general public, the actions and selection of politicians and government policy?

Keywords: media, policy, regulation, voting

JEL Classification: D03, D72, H5, L82

Suggested Citation

Strömberg, David, Media Coverage and Political Accountability: Theory and Evidence (May 2015). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP10638, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2613035

David Strömberg (Contact Author)

Stockholm University - Institute for International Economic Studies (IIES) ( email )

Stockholm, SE-10691
Sweden
+46 816 4376 (Phone)
+46 816 1443 (Fax)

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

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