TY - JOUR
T1 - Political connections and media slant
AU - Guo, Shijun
AU - Yu, Xin
AU - Faff, Robert
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Inc.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/2/12
Y1 - 2021/2/12
N2 - We examine the influence of political connections on media slant for a sample of Chinese listed firms. We find that firms with stronger political connections obtain more positive reports from major Chinese business newspapers. The association is more pronounced when firms are located in provinces with more government intervention and when the media are state-controlled (compared with market-oriented media). We further examine two explanations for the positive association between political connections and media slant. On the demand side, the firm management channel sees firms using their political connections to manage the relationship with the media for favorable reporting. On the supply side, the media intention channel has media outlets providing favorable reporting to connected firms to enhance their own relationship with the government. We find evidence supporting the firm management channel.
AB - We examine the influence of political connections on media slant for a sample of Chinese listed firms. We find that firms with stronger political connections obtain more positive reports from major Chinese business newspapers. The association is more pronounced when firms are located in provinces with more government intervention and when the media are state-controlled (compared with market-oriented media). We further examine two explanations for the positive association between political connections and media slant. On the demand side, the firm management channel sees firms using their political connections to manage the relationship with the media for favorable reporting. On the supply side, the media intention channel has media outlets providing favorable reporting to connected firms to enhance their own relationship with the government. We find evidence supporting the firm management channel.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101360583&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.iref.2021.02.003
DO - 10.1016/j.iref.2021.02.003
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85101360583
SN - 1059-0560
VL - 74
SP - 58
EP - 80
JO - International Review of Economics and Finance
JF - International Review of Economics and Finance
ER -