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Mass media and public education: The effects of access to community radio in Benin

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  • Keefer, Philip
  • Khemani, Stuti

Abstract

Prior research on mass media and government accountability has not examined the effects of citizen media access on broad public services, such as education. At the same time, research has abstracted from the potentially influential role of mass media on parental investments in children's education. We address both issues using a “natural experiment” in radio access in Benin and find that school children's literacy rates are higher in villages exposed to a larger number of community radio stations. There is no evidence that this effect operates through greater government responsiveness. Instead, households with greater media access make larger private investments in their children's education.

Suggested Citation

  • Keefer, Philip & Khemani, Stuti, 2014. "Mass media and public education: The effects of access to community radio in Benin," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 57-72.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:109:y:2014:i:c:p:57-72
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2014.03.010
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    4. Keefer, Philip & Khemani, Stuti, 2014. "Radio's impact on preferences for patronage benefits," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6932, The World Bank.
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    6. Corduneanu Huci,Cristina & Hamilton,Alexander James, 2018. "Selective control : the political economy of censorship," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8556, The World Bank.
    7. Couttenier, Mathieu & Hatte, Sophie, 2016. "Mass media effects on non-governmental organizations," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 57-72.
    8. Ada Gonzalez-Torres, 2022. "Local Media and the Shaping of Social Norms: Evidence from the Ebola outbreak," Papers 2210.15946, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2023.
    9. Shi, Ce Matthew & Li, Danhou, 2023. "The impact of broadband Internet on public media: Evidence from China," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
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    11. Kyando, Doreen Nico, 2022. "Social accountability initiatives in the delivery of public services in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic literature review," IOB Discussion Papers 2022.03, Universiteit Antwerpen, Institute of Development Policy (IOB).
    12. Annalisa Frigo & Elisabetta Lodigiani & Sara Salomone, 2021. "For Children's Sake: Intergenerational Altruism and Parental Migration Intentions," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2021030, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    13. Catherine Ragasa & Cristina Alvarez-Mingote & Paul McNamara, 2024. "Bottom-Up Approaches and Decentralized Extension Structures for Improving Access to and Quality of Extension Services and Technology Adoption: Multi-level Analysis from Malawi," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 36(5), pages 1093-1146, October.
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    15. Lisa Oberlander, 2021. "TV exposure and food consumption patterns–evidence from Indonesia," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(11), pages 2701-2721, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mass media; Accountability; Transparency; Education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General

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