Fact-checking Politicians

Andrea Mattozzi, Samuel Nocito and Francesco Sobbrio

No 17710, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: We study the reaction of national politicians to a rigorous fact-checking of their public statements. Our research design relies on a novel randomized field experiment in collaboration with a leading fact-checking company. Our results show that politicians are responsive to negative fact- checking. We observe a reduction in the number of incorrect statements made by politicians after being treated in the order of one fourth of a standard deviation. This effect persists for at least two months. We also observe a reduction in the probability of politicians making verifiable statements, suggesting that fact-checking may also increase the ambiguity of politicians’ statements.

Keywords: Politicians; Accountability; Ambiguity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 D78 D8 D91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-11
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Related works:
Working Paper: Fact-Checking Politicians (2026)
Working Paper: Fact-checking Politicians (2024)
Working Paper: Fact-Checking Politicians (2022)
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