IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-05772146.html

Press freedom and government spending efficiency

Author

Listed:
  • Bao We Wal Bambe

    (LEO - Laboratoire d'Économie d'Orleans [2022-...] - UO - Université d'Orléans - UT - Université de Tours - NEOLAiA - NEOLAiA European University = Université Européenne NEOLAÏA - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne, IDOS - German Institute of Development and Sustainebility, UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne)

  • Jean-Louis Combes

    (LEO - Laboratoire d'Économie d'Orleans [2022-...] - UO - Université d'Orléans - UT - Université de Tours - NEOLAiA - NEOLAiA European University = Université Européenne NEOLAÏA - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne, UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne)

  • Manegdo Ulrich Doamba

    (LEO - Laboratoire d'Économie d'Orleans [2022-...] - UO - Université d'Orléans - UT - Université de Tours - NEOLAiA - NEOLAiA European University = Université Européenne NEOLAÏA - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne, UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne, AgroParisTech, UL - Université de Lorraine, UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg)

  • Chantale Riziki Oweggi

    (LEO - Laboratoire d'Économie d'Orleans [2022-...] - UO - Université d'Orléans - UT - Université de Tours - NEOLAiA - NEOLAiA European University = Université Européenne NEOLAÏA - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne, UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne)

Abstract

We examine the effect of media freedom on public expenditure efficiency using a panel of 134 advanced and developing countries from 1994 to 2016. Our findings provide robust evidence that greater media freedom significantly enhances government spending efficiency. This effect is more pronounced in countries with higher levels of democracy, per capita income, human capital, internet access, and strong fiscal rules. Furthermore, we show that media freedom primarily influences efficiency through reduced corruption, increased transparency and accountability in the public sector, and stronger electoral competition. These results underscore the vital role of media freedom in fostering good governance and efficient public resource allocation, particularly in a context where press freedom is declining and fiscal constraints are tightening.

Suggested Citation

  • Bao We Wal Bambe & Jean-Louis Combes & Manegdo Ulrich Doamba & Chantale Riziki Oweggi, 2026. "Press freedom and government spending efficiency," Post-Print hal-05772146, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05772146
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-026-01433-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a
    for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05772146. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.