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Echo chambers and their effects on economic and political outcomes

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  • Levy, Gilat
  • Razin, Ronny

Abstract

In this review, we survey the economics literature on echo chambers. We identify echo chambers as arising from a combination of two phenomena: (a) the choice of individuals to segregate with like-minded ones, i.e., the creation of chambers, and (b) behavioral biases that induce polarization when individuals exchange beliefs in these chambers, i.e., the echo. We summarize the literatures on these two phenomena and suggest how to combine the two literatures to gain insights about the effects of echo chambers on economic and political outcomes. We end by suggesting pathways for future research and discussing policy interventions to alleviate echo chambers.

Suggested Citation

  • Levy, Gilat & Razin, Ronny, 2019. "Echo chambers and their effects on economic and political outcomes," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101413, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:101413
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/101413/
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Alejandra Agustina Martínez, 2023. "Raise your voice! Activism and peer effects in online social networks," Discussion Papers 2023-05, Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP).
    2. Betts,Alexander Milton Stedman & Stierna,Maria Flinder & Omata,Naohiko & Sterck,Olivier Christian Brigitte, 2022. "Social Cohesion and Refugee-Host Interactions : Evidence from East Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9917, The World Bank.
    3. Wenbo Zou & Xue Xu, 2023. "Ingroup bias in a social learning experiment," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 26(1), pages 27-54, March.
    4. Guy Aridor & Rafael Jiménez-Durán & Ro'ee Levy & Lena Song, 2024. "The Economics of Social Media," CESifo Working Paper Series 10934, CESifo.
    5. Alejandra Agustina Martínez, 2023. "Raise your Voice! Activism and Peer Effects in Online Social Networks," Working Papers 277, Red Nacional de Investigadores en Economía (RedNIE).
    6. Grunewald, Andreas & Klockmann, Victor & von Schenk, Alicia & von Siemens, Ferdinand, 2024. "Are biases contagious? The influence of communication on motivated beliefs," W.E.P. - Würzburg Economic Papers 109, University of Würzburg, Department of Economics.
    7. Mats Köster & Paul Voss, 2023. "Conversations," CESifo Working Paper Series 10275, CESifo.
    8. Betts, Alexander & Flinder Stierna, Maria & Omata, Naohiko & Sterck, Olivier, 2023. "Refugees welcome? Inter-group interaction and host community attitude formation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    echo chambers; information silos; segregation; correlation neglect; beliefs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics
    • A20 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - General
    • D70 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - General
    • D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General
    • D90 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - General

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