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Does media freedom improve government effectiveness? A comparative cross-country analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Isabel-María García-Sánchez

    (University of Salamanca)

  • Beatriz Cuadrado-Ballesteros

    (University of Salamanca)

  • José-Valeriano Frías-Aceituno

    (University of Granada)

Abstract

Government effectiveness could be explained by the level of well-informed electorate members, who use the press to learn more about politicians and public servants. Thus, a free press may improve citizens’ accessibility to this information, which in turn will make it more difficult for politicians and public servants to cover up or get away with corrupt behaviour, so the quality of the government could be affected by the media freedom. Accordingly, the main aim of this paper is to determine the effect of the freedom of the press on government effectiveness, considering additionally environmental, institutional, and political characteristics as factors that could determine the level of government effectiveness. To achieve this aim, we examined 202 central governments and compared them across countries using the World Bank data set of Governance Indicators for 2002–2008. The results show that the media, the organizational environment, and political characteristics may be determinants of the level of government effectiveness, taking countries’ economic development into account.

Suggested Citation

  • Isabel-María García-Sánchez & Beatriz Cuadrado-Ballesteros & José-Valeriano Frías-Aceituno, 2016. "Does media freedom improve government effectiveness? A comparative cross-country analysis," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 515-537, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:ejlwec:v:42:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s10657-014-9462-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10657-014-9462-z
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    Cited by:

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    2. Bodo Knoll & Hans Pitlik & Martin Rode, 2023. "TV Consumption Patterns and the Impact of Media Freedom on Political Trust and Satisfaction with the Government," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 323-340, September.
    3. Bjørnskov, Christian & Freytag, Andreas & Gutmann, Jerg, 2022. "Coups and the dynamics of media freedom," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    4. Ramalho,Rita & Saltane,Valentina, 2019. "Does Media Stimulate Reform Efforts ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8984, The World Bank.
    5. Martin Leroch, 2022. "Market power and journalistic quality," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 53(1), pages 109-124, February.
    6. Lethiwe Nzama & Thanda Sithole & Sezer Bozkus Kahyaoglu, 2022. "The Impact of Government Effectiveness on Trade and Financial Openness: The Generalized Quantile Panel Regression Approach," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-20, December.

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