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Discrimination as a Competitive Device: The Case of Local Television News

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Author Info
Caitlin Knowles Myers ()

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Abstract

Local news offers a unique look not only at customer preferences but also at the strategic response of firms to these preferences. This paper uses a combination of ratings data and newly gathered information on television stations in 25 U.S. markets to examine the decisions of competing firms and how customers respond to the journalists who appear onair at the different stations in a market. The results indicate that there is a negative correlation between the racial, gender, and age composition of competing firms. Moreover, the ratings data suggest that the stations with relatively few blacks on-air are catering to the more discriminatory customers. While a similar result is found for age and gender, the reverse holds for other groups, suggesting possible tastes for diversity for Hispanics and Asians. Taken as a whole, the evidence supports a theoretical model in which firms differentiate via the characteristics of their employees in response to customer prejudice.

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File URL: http://www.middlebury.edu/services/econ/repec/mdl/ancoec/0526.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Middlebury College, Department of Economics in its series Middlebury College Working Paper Series with number 0526.

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Length: 41 pages
Date of creation: 2005
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:mdl:mdlpap:0526

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Related research
Keywords: economics of gender and minorities customer discrimination product differentiation Nielsen ratings

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Kahn, Lawrence M & Sherer, Peter D, 1988. "Racial Differences in Professional Basketball Players' Compensation," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(1), pages 40-61, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Gwartney, James & Haworth, Charles, 1974. "Employer Costs and Discrimination: The Case of Baseball," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(4), pages 873-81, July/Aug.. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Harry J. Holzer & Keith R. Ihlanfeldt, 1998. "Customer Discrimination And Employment Outcomes For Minority Workers," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 113(3), pages 835-867, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Stone, Eric W & Warren, Ronald S, Jr, 1999. "Customer Discrimination in Professional Basketball: Evidence from the Trading-Card Market," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 31(6), pages 679-85, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Eric Aldrich & Peter Arcidiacono & Jacob Vigdor, 2005. "Do People Value Racial Diversity? Evidence from Nielsen Ratings," Topics in Economic Analysis & Policy, Berkeley Electronic Press, vol. 5(1), pages 1396-1396. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Kate L. Antonovics & Brian G. Knight, 2004. "A New Look at Racial Profiling: Evidence from the Boston Police Department," NBER Working Papers 10634, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Kanazawa, Mark T & Funk, Jonas P, 2001. "Racial Discrimination in Professional Basketball: Evidence from Nielsen Ratings," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 39(4), pages 599-608, October.
  8. Nardinelli, Clark & Simon, Curtis, 1990. "Customer Racial Discrimination in the Market for Memorabilia: The Case of Baseball," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 105(3), pages 575-95, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. Matthew Gentzkow & Jesse M. Shapiro, 2006. "What Drives Media Slant? Evidence from U.S. Daily Newspapers," NBER Working Papers 12707, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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