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Mind what your voters read: Media exposure and international economic policy making

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  • Facchini, Giovanni
  • Frattini, Tommaso
  • Signorotto, Cora

Abstract

We investigate how media exposure affects elected representatives’ response to preferences on immigration and trade policy. Using a novel dataset spanning the period 1986-2004, in which we match individual opinion surveys with congressmen roll call votes, we find that greater exposure to media coverage tends to increase a politician’s accountability when it comes to migration policy making, while we find no effect for trade policy. Our results thus suggest that more information on the behavior of elected officials affects decisions only when the policy issue is perceived to be salient by the electorate.

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  • Facchini, Giovanni & Frattini, Tommaso & Signorotto, Cora, 2016. "Mind what your voters read: Media exposure and international economic policy making," CEPR Discussion Papers 11282, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11282
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    Cited by:

    1. Malcolm, Michael, 2017. "Do local exports impact congressional voting on free trade agreements?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 31-34.
    2. Hatton, Tim, 2017. "Public Opinion on Immigration in Europe: Preference versus Salience," CEPR Discussion Papers 12084, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. David H. Bearce & Brendan J. Connell, 2023. "Government compensation and citizen support for immigration openness," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 5-27, March.
    4. Casarico, Alessandra & Facchini, Giovanni & Frattini, Tommaso, 2018. "What drives the legalization of immigrants? Evidence from IRCA," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 258-273.
    5. Bellani, Luna & Fabella, Vigile Marie, 2018. "Upward Income Mobility and Legislator Support for Education Policies," IZA Discussion Papers 11324, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Giacomo Battiston, 2022. "Rescue on Stage: Border Enforcement and Public Attention in the Mediterranean Sea," "Marco Fanno" Working Papers 0292, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Marco Fanno".

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Political economy; Public opinion; Roll call votes; Media exposure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • H89 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - Other

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