The sound of silence: Political accountability and libel law

Gabriele Gratton

European Journal of Political Economy, 2015, vol. 37, issue C, 266-279

Abstract: This paper explores the role played by press regulation in selecting the information mass media deliver to voters. The focus is on whether press regulation can reduce political corruption and increase voters' welfare. By endogenizing the response of the voters to information from the media, we clarify under which circumstances regulation reduces or increases corruption. We show that punitive laws can reduce political corruption only if the moral hazard problem dominates adverse selection and the punishment is large enough to deter the publication of some well-founded scandals.

Keywords: Media and democracy; Corruption; Defamation; Chilling effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D7 K4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:poleco:v:37:y:2015:i:c:p:266-279

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2014.09.007

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