Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

Research Papers in Economics,
Stockholm University, Department of Economics

No 2002:3: Political Media Contests and Confirmatory Bias

Adam Jacobsson ()
Additional contact information
Adam Jacobsson: Dept. of Economics, Stockholm University, Postal: Department of Economics, Stockholm University, S-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract: This paper models a two-period media contest between two political

candidates campaigning to win an election. Two main cases

are examined. In the first case voters behave as unbiased Bayesian

updaters when assessing political information. The second case considers

voters suffering from confirmatory bias. In the first case I find

that candidates spend equal amounts of their campaign funds in both

periods in equilibrium. In the second case, candidates spend more

in period one. A candidate with better media access (in period one)

does, however, better if voters suffer from confirmatory bias than if

they do not.

Keywords: Election campaigns; voting behavior; confirmatory bias. Election campaigns; voting behavior; confirmatory bias. Election campaigns; voting behavior; confirmatory bias. Election campaigns; voting behavior; confirmatory bias

JEL-codes: D72; D81; D83

25 pages, January 29, 2002

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