Reform Chatter and Democracy
This paper explores the dynamics of media chatter about economic reforms using text analysis from about a billion newspaper articles in 28 languages. The paper shows that the intensity of reform chatter increases during economic downturns. This inc...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/680431594667981791/Reform-Chatter-and-Democracy http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34128 |
| Summary: | This paper explores the dynamics of
media chatter about economic reforms using text analysis
from about a billion newspaper articles in 28 languages. The
paper shows that the intensity of reform chatter increases
during economic downturns. This increase is more significant
in democracies. Using instrumental variable techniques, the
analysis finds the relationship to be causal. The paper also
documents that reform chatter is followed by actual reforms,
suggesting that democracies benefit from a
"self-correcting" mechanism stemming from changing
popular attitudes toward reform. |
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