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The changing face of culture: gauging the impact of a free media

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  • Nabamita Dutta
  • Sanjukta Roy

Abstract

This paper empirically assesses the relationship between culture and a free press. The results reveal that a privatized or ‘free media’ strongly influences informal institutions of a country or what is commonly known as culture. By providing unbiased and a wide variety information to the masses, the media sector not only reduces information asymmetry and transaction costs but also helps generate higher levels of social capital. It acts as an effective liaison between the masses and the government and also among various religious, ethnic and other fractionalized groups in a society. We use the proxy of informal institutions identified by Tabellini (Journal of the European Economic Association 8(4):677–716, 2010 ) which consists of four traits. The results are robust to alternate specifications and inclusion of controls. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Nabamita Dutta & Sanjukta Roy, 2013. "The changing face of culture: gauging the impact of a free media," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 95-115, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:ejlwec:v:36:y:2013:i:1:p:95-115
    DOI: 10.1007/s10657-011-9261-8
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    Cited by:

    1. Isabel-María García-Sánchez & Beatriz Cuadrado-Ballesteros & José-Valeriano Frías-Aceituno, 2016. "Does media freedom improve government effectiveness? A comparative cross-country analysis," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 515-537, December.
    2. Armando J. Garcia Pires, 2017. "Media pluralism and competition," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 255-283, April.
    3. Martin Leroch, 2022. "Market power and journalistic quality," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 53(1), pages 109-124, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Informal institutions; Culture; Media freedom; Institution; O10; Z1; FO1;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

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