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Opting out of Autocracy: Foreign Media, Institutional Legitimacy, and State-Dependent Human Capital

Author

Listed:
  • Sven A. Hartmann

    (Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU), Trier University)

  • Andrea Bernini

    (University of Houston)

Abstract

When autocracies tie human capital to political loyalty, schooling functions as a costly signal contingent on regime survival. Exploiting topography-driven variation in East Germans’ reception of West German television, we examine how foreign media, by eroding regime legitimacy, reshapes schooling. Exposure reduced schooling by 0.5 years and post-primary attainment by 10.7 percentage points—voluntary withdrawal driven by collapsing legitimacy, not screening, cognition, time use, preferences, or economic anxiety. After reunification, the employment and income gaps closed, the exposed proved less overeducated, and a 1959 reform raising attainment moved neither earnings nor employment—confirming the forgone schooling was political, not productive.

Suggested Citation

  • Sven A. Hartmann & Andrea Bernini, 2026. "Opting out of Autocracy: Foreign Media, Institutional Legitimacy, and State-Dependent Human Capital," IAAEU Discussion Papers 202606, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    • Handle: RePEc:iaa:dpaper:202606
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • N44 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: 1913-

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