Working Paper: NBER ID: w16989
Authors: Stefano Dellavigna; Ruben Enikolopov; Vera Mironova; Maria Petrova; Ekaterina Zhuravskaya
Abstract: How do nationalistic media affect animosity between ethnic groups? We consider one of Europe's deadliest conflicts since WWII: the Serbo-Croatian conflict. We show that, after a decade of peace, cross-border nationalistic Serbian radio triggers ethnic hatred towards Serbs in Croatia. Mostly attracted by non-political content, many Croats listen to Serbian public radio (intended for Serbs in Serbia) whenever signal is available. As a result, the vote for extreme nationalist parties is higher, and ethnically offensive graffiti are more common, in Croatian villages with Serbian radio reception. A laboratory experiment confirms that Serbian radio exposure causes anti-Serbian sentiment among Croats.
Keywords: nationalism; media; ethnic conflict; Serbian radio; Croatia
JEL Codes: H41; H56; H77
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| exposure to Serbian public radio (Y60) | increase in nationalistic sentiment among Croats (F52) |
| exposure to Serbian public radio (Y60) | higher voting for extremist nationalist parties (K16) |
| exposure to Serbian public radio (Y60) | greater prevalence of ethnically offensive graffiti (J15) |
| exposure to Serbian public radio (Y60) | decrease in votes for moderate nationalist parties (D72) |