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Media Bias in Financial Newspapers: Evidence from Early 20th Century France

Author

Listed:
  • Vincent Bignon

    (EconomiX - EconomiX - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Antonio Miscio

Abstract

The financial market was very developed in France in the years before World War I and subsequently many newspapers provided information to investors. Yet, contemporaries blamed the inaccuracy and biases of the financial press. This study implements a quantitative test to assess this judgment. The results show that although the firms' media coverage were impacted by the fact that firms paid to appear in newspapers, the performance of the firms selected by the media was pretty good. A better explanation of the bias is then that newspapers choose firms according to their editorial policy and that they were able to make firms paid for that.

Suggested Citation

  • Vincent Bignon & Antonio Miscio, 2009. "Media Bias in Financial Newspapers: Evidence from Early 20th Century France," Working Papers hal-04140891, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-04140891
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04140891
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Bignon, Vincent & Flandreau, Marc, 2011. "The Economics of Badmouthing: Libel Law and the Underworld of the Financial Press in France Before World War I," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 71(3), pages 616-653, September.
    3. Bignon, Vincent & Flandreau, Marc, 2014. "The Price of Media Capture and the Debasement of the French Newspaper Industry During the Interwar," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(3), pages 799-830, September.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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