The role of the media in corporate governance and economic development: North African democratic transition

This study provides an overview of the main theories behind corporate governance patterns from a critical perspective and expands the body of knowledge by explaining how media can be integrated into the institutional economic model as an important factor affecting corporate governance and economic development. Using the desk study method for the case of Tunisia's democratic transition, we argue that the media plays an important role in disseminating information and helping build public consensus about governance, corporate law reform, capital market decisions and economic choices. Therefore, we corroborate our study by conducting a comparative analysis with other North African countries. We demonstrate that, in the Tunisian post-revolution experience, democratic transition is preserved thanks to free media, but the process is still a long way from building economic growth and good corporate governance. The emergence of social democracy inhibits ownership diffusion and does not encourage private investment and economic growth.