Media attention and strategic timing in politics: Evidence from U.S. presidential executive orders

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  • dc.contributor.author Djourelova, Milena
  • dc.contributor.author Durante, Ruben, 1978-
  • dc.contributor.other Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Departament d'Economia i Empresa
  • dc.date.accessioned 2020-05-25T09:27:08Z
  • dc.date.available 2020-05-25T09:27:08Z
  • dc.date.issued 2019-10-01
  • dc.date.modified 2020-05-25T09:26:08Z
  • dc.description.abstract Do politicians tend to adopt unpopular policies when the media and the public are distracted by other events? We examine this question by analyzing the timing of the signing of executive orders (EOs) by U.S. presidents over the past four decades. We find robust evidence that EOs are more likely to be signed on the eve of days when the news are dominated by other important stories that can crowd out coverage of EOs. Crucially, this relationship only holds in periods of divided government when unilateral presidential actions are more likely to be criticized by a hostile Congress. The effect is driven by EOs that are more likely to make the news and to attract negative publicity, particularly those on topics on which president and Congress disagree. Finally, the timing of EOs appears to be related to predictable news but not to unpredictable ones, which suggests it results from a deliberate and forward-looking PR strategy.
  • dc.format.mimetype application/pdf*
  • dc.identifier https://econ-papers.upf.edu/ca/paper.php?id=1675
  • dc.identifier.citation
  • dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10230/44788
  • dc.language.iso eng
  • dc.relation.ispartofseries Economics and Business Working Papers Series; 1675
  • dc.rights L'accés als continguts d'aquest document queda condicionat a l'acceptació de les condicions d'ús establertes per la següent llicència Creative Commons
  • dc.rights.accessRights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
  • dc.rights.uri http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/
  • dc.subject.keyword mass media
  • dc.subject.keyword political accountability
  • dc.subject.keyword presidential powers
  • dc.subject.keyword strategic timing
  • dc.title Media attention and strategic timing in politics: Evidence from U.S. presidential executive orders
  • dc.title.alternative
  • dc.type info:eu-repo/semantics/workingPaper