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Anti-Muslim Voting and Media Coverage of Immigrant Crimes

Author

Listed:
  • Mathieu Couttenier

    (Université de Lyon, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Center for Economic Research on Governance, Inequality and Conflict, and CEPR)

  • Sophie Hatte

    (Université de Lyon, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Center for Economic Research on Governance, Inequality and Conflict)

  • Mathias Thoenig

    (Department of Economics, University of Lausanne; IMD and CEPR)

  • Stephanos Vlachos

    (University of Vienna)

Abstract

We study how news coverage of immigrant criminality impacts voting in one of the most controversial referendums in recent years—the 2009 Swiss minaret ban. We combine a comprehensive crime detection data set with detailed information on newspaper coverage. We first document a large upward distortion in media reporting of immigrant crime during the prereferendum period. Exploiting quasi-random variations in crime incidence, we find a positive first-order effect of news coverage on support for the ban. Our quantification shows that, in absence of the media bias, the pro-ban vote would have decreased from 57.6% to 53.5% at the national level.

Suggested Citation

  • Mathieu Couttenier & Sophie Hatte & Mathias Thoenig & Stephanos Vlachos, 2024. "Anti-Muslim Voting and Media Coverage of Immigrant Crimes," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 106(2), pages 576-585, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:106:y:2024:i:2:p:576-585
    DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01152
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