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Media Bias in Financial Newspapers: Evidence from Early 20th Century France

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  • Vincent Bignon
  • Antonio Miscio

Abstract

The financial market was very developed in France in the years before World War I and subsequently many newspapers provided information to investors. Yet, contemporaries blamed the inaccuracy and biases of the financial press. This study implements a quantitative test to assess this judgment. The results show that although the firms’ media coverage were impacted by the fact that firms paid to appear in newspapers, the performance of the firms selected by the media was pretty good. A better explanation of the bias is then that newspapers choose firms according to their editorial policy and that they were able to make firms paid for that.

Suggested Citation

  • Vincent Bignon & Antonio Miscio, 2009. "Media Bias in Financial Newspapers: Evidence from Early 20th Century France," EconomiX Working Papers 2009-4, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    • Handle: RePEc:drm:wpaper:2009-4
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    File URL: http://economix.fr/pdf/dt/2009/WP_EcoX_2009-04.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Vincent Bignon & Marc Flandreau, 2012. "The Price of Media Capture and the Looting of Newspapers in Interwar France," IHEID Working Papers 09-2012, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.
    2. Pandey, Dharen Kumar & Lucey, Brian M. & Kumar, Satish, 2023. "Border disputes, conflicts, war, and financial markets research: A systematic review," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    3. Campbell, Gareth & Turner, John D. & Walker, Clive B., 2012. "The role of the media in a bubble," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 461-481.
    4. Gambaro, Marco & Puglisi, Riccardo, 2015. "What do ads buy? Daily coverage of listed companies on the Italian press," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 41-57.
    5. Liu, Sha & Han, Jingguang, 2020. "Media tone and expected stock returns," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    6. Bignon, Vincent & Flandreau, Marc, 2014. "The Price of Media Capture and the Debasement of the French Newspaper Industry During the Interwar," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(3), pages 799-830, September.
    7. Sendhil Mullainathan & Andrei Shleifer, 2005. "The Market for News," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1031-1053, September.
    8. Cécile EDLINGER & Maxime MERLI & Antoine PARENT, 2018. "Financial Diversification before WW1 : A Risk/Return Analysis of Portfolio’s Advice of French Financial Analyst Alfred Neymarck," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2018-03, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.
    9. Bignon, Vincent & Flandreau, Marc, 2011. "The Economics of Badmouthing: Libel Law and the Underworld of the Financial Press in France Before World War I," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 71(3), pages 616-653, September.
    10. Bakker, Gerben, 2014. "How they made news pay: news traders’ quest for crisis-resistant business models," Economic History Working Papers 59304, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    11. Louis-Sidois, Charles & Mougin, Elisa, 2023. "Silence the media or the story? Theory and evidence of media capture," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    12. John D Turner & Qing Ye & Clive B Walker, 2018. "Media Coverage and Stock Returns on the London Stock Exchange, 1825–70," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 22(4), pages 1605-1629.
    13. Balmer, Roberto, 2013. "Entry and Competition in Local Newspaper Retail Markets - When two are enough," MPRA Paper 54079, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Hanna, Alan J. & Turner, John D. & Walker, Clive B., 2017. "News media and investor sentiment over the long run," QUCEH Working Paper Series 2017-06, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Media coverage; financial newspapers; media bias; information on the financial market;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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