Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP9042
Authors: Stefano Della Vigna; Ruben Enikolopov; Vera Mironova; Maria Petrova; Ekaterina Zhuravskaya
Abstract: Which factors stand in the way of cooperation between countries formerly at war? We examine the role of nationalistic content of a media outlet reaching citizens of a neighboring country. We consider radio signals travelling across borders in the region that witnessed one of Europe?s deadliest conflicts since WWII: the Serbo-Croatian conflict in the Yugoslavian wars. Using survey and election data, we show that, after a decade since the end of the war, cross-border nationalistic Serbian radio triggers animosity towards Serbs in Croatia, potentially endangering peace. In particular, we find that a large fraction of Croats listen to Serbian radio (intended for Serbian listeners across the border) whenever signal is available. The residents of Croatian villages with good-quality signal of Serbian public radio are more likely to vote for extreme nationalist parties. In addition, ethnically offensive graffiti are more common in villages with Serbian radio reception. A laboratory experiment confirms that Serbian radio exposure causes an increase in anti-Serbian sentiment among Croats.
Keywords: media; nationalism
JEL Codes: O10
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Availability of Serbian radio (Y70) | Votes for ultra-nationalist parties (D79) |
| Availability of Serbian radio (Y70) | Ethnically offensive graffiti (J15) |
| Exposure to Serbian radio (Y50) | Heightened animosity towards Serbs (F52) |
| Exposure to Serbian radio (Y50) | Increased polarization (F69) |
| Serbian radio reminds Croats of past conflicts (Y50) | Increased polarization (F69) |