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Fake news and beliefs: evidence from a natural experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Francesco Bogliacino

    (Universidad Nacional de Colombia)

  • Rafael Charris

    (Chapman University)

  • Camilo Gómez

    (Universidad Nacional de Colombia; CERGE-EI)

  • Felipe Montealegre

    (Università degli Studi di Bologna)

Abstract

Can fake news affect individual beliefs? We exploit the natural experiment of ‘the night of collective panic' in Bogotá, combining administrative data from emergency calls, tweets, and elicited beliefs, to answer this question. The outcome variables are the perceived levels of insecurity within the neighbourhood. We fail to reject the hypothesis that the perception of insecurity was unaffected. We cannot exclude that the sample's demographic characteristics drive the null result.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Bogliacino & Rafael Charris & Camilo Gómez & Felipe Montealegre, 2022. "Fake news and beliefs: evidence from a natural experiment," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 42(2), pages 802-809.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-22-00279
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stefano DellaVigna & Matthew Gentzkow, 2010. "Persuasion: Empirical Evidence," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 643-669, September.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fake news; perception of insecurity; beliefs; availability heuristics; motivated reasoning; social identity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty
    • C9 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments

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