Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/214659 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
ILE Working Paper Series No. 33
Publisher: 
University of Hamburg, Institute of Law and Economics (ILE), Hamburg
Abstract: 
This paper analyzes the long-term impact of television on hate crimes in Germany. In the German Democratic Republic (GDR) foreign television served as a window to the world and exposed viewers to foreign influences. But certain parts of the GDR were excluded from receiving Western television due to geographical features. I argue that this resulted in long-lasting differences in the attitude towards foreigners. Using the spatial variation in signal strength as a natural experiment, the paper tests the effect of Western broadcasts on the rate of hate crimes. Municipalities with no access to foreign broadcasts exhibit a higher degree of xenophobic violence in the period of the migration crisis in Germany between 2014 to 2017. It shows that media can lead to preference changes that persist for a long time after the exposure.
Subjects: 
hate crimes
refugees
natural experiment
media
JEL: 
J15
K42
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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