Press Freedom, Market Information, and International Trade

TY - JOUR

T1 - Press Freedom, Market Information, and International Trade

AU - Bjørnskov, Christian

AU - Schröder, Philipp

PY - 2023/1

Y1 - 2023/1

N2 - We consider a framework in which freedom of the media can alleviate barriers to trade, while in the absence of trustworthy market information, firms optimally withhold part of their export activity and opt for testing-the-waters strategies. We employ data on export flows among a large group of Western and Latin American countries combined with the Freedom House measure of press freedom to examine the main theoretical implication. In a standard set-up of gravity equations, we find evidence that the effects are partially conditional on the political institutions of the importing country: press freedom is strongly associated with trade with autocracies.

AB - We consider a framework in which freedom of the media can alleviate barriers to trade, while in the absence of trustworthy market information, firms optimally withhold part of their export activity and opt for testing-the-waters strategies. We employ data on export flows among a large group of Western and Latin American countries combined with the Freedom House measure of press freedom to examine the main theoretical implication. In a standard set-up of gravity equations, we find evidence that the effects are partially conditional on the political institutions of the importing country: press freedom is strongly associated with trade with autocracies.

KW - Gravity equations

KW - Press freedom

KW - Regime types

KW - Trade flows

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85130343399&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2022.102236

DO - 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2022.102236

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0176-2680

VL - 76

JO - European Journal of Political Economy

JF - European Journal of Political Economy

M1 - 102236

ER -