The Political Legacy of Entertainment TV

dc.contributor.author	TESEI, A	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Durante, R	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Pinotti, P	en_US
dc.date.accessioned	2018-10-18T14:06:59Z
dc.date.available	2018-09-13	en_US
dc.date.submitted	2018-10-04T15:02:47.619Z
dc.identifier.issn	0002-8282	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/46943
dc.description.abstract	We study the political impact of commercial television in Italy exploiting the staggered introduction of Berlusconi's private TV network, Mediaset, in the early 1980s. We find that individuals with early access to Mediaset all-entertainment content were more likely to vote for Berlusconi's party in 1994, when he first ran for office. The effect persists for five elections and is driven by heavy TV viewers, namely the very young and the elderly. Regarding possible mechanisms, we find that individuals exposed to entertainment TV as children were less cognitively sophisticated and civic-minded as adults, and ultimately more vulnerable to Berlusconi's populist rhetoric. © 2019 AEA
dc.format.extent	pp. 2497-2530
dc.language.iso	en	en_US
dc.publisher	American Economic Association	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	American Economic Review	en_US
dc.title	The Political Legacy of Entertainment TV	en_US
dc.type	Article
dc.rights.holder	© 2018 AEA
dc.identifier.doi	10.1257/aer.20150958
pubs.issue	7
pubs.notes	Not known	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Accepted	en_US
pubs.volume	109
dcterms.dateAccepted	2018-09-13	en_US