2013年-世界发展银行全球_Mass_Media_and_Public_Policy___Global_Evidence_from_Agricultural_Policies_24页_343kb

Summary of "Mass Media and Public Policy: Global Evidence from Agricultural Policies"

Core Content

This paper investigates the impact of mass media on public agricultural policy across 69 countries from 1960 to 2004. It builds on theoretical predictions that mass media influence political markets and public policy by shaping the information available to voters, thereby affecting the political power of different groups. The study uses a new dataset from the World Bank to test these hypotheses, focusing on the relationship between media diffusion, particularly television, and the direction of agricultural policy—whether it is more tax-oriented or subsidy-oriented.

Main Viewpoints

• Mass Media as a Political Channel: Mass media influence political outcomes by informing voters about government programs, which in turn affects their political behavior and the resulting policies.
• Media Competition and Policy Bias: Increased media competition leads to more information being provided to larger groups, thus shifting public policy in favor of these groups. This results in a "media-competition-induced political bias."
• Agricultural Policy as a Case Study: Agricultural policy is an ideal subject for this analysis due to its significance in both developed and developing countries and the clear group size and interest dynamics involved.
• Development Paradox: Agricultural policy shifts from taxation to subsidization as countries develop, primarily due to changes in group size and the relative influence of consumers and taxpayers.
• Two Key Hypotheses:
  • Hypothesis 1 (Group Size Effect): Mass media competition increases agricultural protection in poor countries and reduces it in rich countries.
  • Hypothesis 2 (Advertiser Value Effect): Agricultural protection is more likely to be biased toward groups with higher advertiser value, such as urban populations, in developed countries.

Key Findings

• Media Diffusion and Policy Outcomes: An increase in television diffusion is associated with a greater focus on policies benefiting the majority and a reduction in agricultural taxation in poor countries and in agricultural subsidization in rich countries.
• Policy Distortion Reduction: Media competition contributes to more efficient public policies by reducing the influence of special interest groups.
• Nonlinear Income Effects: The relationship between media effects and agricultural policy is nonlinear. In poor countries, the media effect increases agricultural protection, while in rich countries, it decreases it. In middle-income countries, the effect is less pronounced.
• Robustness Checks: The study includes various control variables such as GDP per capita, agricultural employment share, trade openness, government size, and political institutions to ensure the validity of the findings.

Data and Methodology

• Dependent Variables: The study uses the Relative Rate of Assistance (RRA) and Nominal Rate of Assistance (NRA) to measure agricultural policy.
• Media Variable: The penetration of television is used as a proxy for media diffusion, measured as the natural logarithm of TV sets per 100 inhabitants.
• Control Variables:
  • Income: Real GDP per capita (in PPP) as a proxy for development.
  • Group Size: Agricultural employment share as a measure of the relative size of the agricultural sector.
  • Trade and Openness: Trade to GDP ratio and Sachs-Warner openness index.
  • Political Institutions: Polity2 index to measure democracy.
  • Economic Crisis: Dummy variable for years with negative GDP per capita growth.

Implications

• Policy Efficiency: The presence of free and independent media is associated with more efficient public policies by reducing the influence of special interest groups.
• Global Relevance: The findings are applicable across a wide range of countries and development stages, indicating a generalizable effect of media on agricultural policy.
• Theoretical Contribution: The paper contributes to the literature on political economy and media economics by linking media competition to changes in the political bias of agricultural policy.

Conclusion

The study provides empirical evidence supporting the theoretical framework that mass media competition influences agricultural policy outcomes. It highlights the role of media in shaping political preferences and reducing distortions in policy-making, especially in the context of agricultural subsidies and taxation. The results suggest that media diffusion can lead to more equitable and efficient agricultural policies, with varying effects depending on the country's level of development.

Key Information

• Sample Size: 69 countries, with over 2,000 observations.
• Time Period: 1960–2004.
• Data Sources:
  • World Bank's Agricultural Distortions Database.
  • Arthur S. Banks Cross National Time-Series Data Archive.
  • UNESCO and International Telecommunication Union data.
  • Penn World Tables.
  • Polity IV database.
• Methodology: Panel data analysis with cross-country and time-series variation.
• Robustness Checks: The study uses both RRA and NRA as dependent variables and includes various covariates to ensure the reliability of its findings.

Hypotheses

• Hypothesis 1: Mass media competition increases agricultural protection in poor countries and reduces it in rich countries.
• Hypothesis 2: Mass media competition leads to a bias in favor of groups with higher advertiser value, such as urban populations, in developed countries.