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Three essays in the political economy of information
[Trois essais en économie politique de l’information]

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  • Elisa Mougin

    (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

The aim of the thesis is to delve into some of the determinants of the supply side of the information market, and consider the possible implications that those determinants can have on societies and political systems. The three chapters are independent from each other and can be read separately. They are three studies on three questions in media economics and aim at contributing to the debate on how information is produced and with with consequences.As the main methodology, I use tools from applied microeconomics to quantitatively isolate relationships between one determinant of the production function of information and discourse, or content, as my outcome of interest. I also borrow to the political science literature and studies in communication to better discuss the pattern emphasized through data analysis.In the first chapter, I consider parameters that affect media capture, and how the perceptions of the likelihood to find a story to disclose and the characteristics of the market influence the different forms of pressures over media outlets over the world. In the second chapter, I look into the influence of money on political discourse and investigates how receiving donations from firms can affect candidates discourse, in an analysis of political manifestos issued by candidates to the French legislative election. In the third chapter, I study the impact of technological change on media content and political behavior. More precisely, I look at the effect of the introduction of digital TV in Kenya on news content and on political preferences during the presidential election of 2017. Hence, the three chapters of this dissertation illustrate the complexity of the media landscape and of the determinants of the political discourse. Building on the existing results from the literature and using a large range of methods, I try to contribute to the general debate on the challenges pertaining to today's world of information and entertainment, in its multifaceted aspects.

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  • Elisa Mougin, 2021. "Three essays in the political economy of information [Trois essais en économie politique de l’information]," SciencePo Working papers Main tel-03537938, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:spmain:tel-03537938
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://theses.hal.science/tel-03537938
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    Media; Political economy; Information; Elections; Médias; Economie politique;
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