PEPP Seminar (July 14th, 2022): “Building the “Rainbow Nation” through Mass Media: Television, Cultural Diversity, and National Unity in Post-Apartheid South Africa”
2022/06/21
By Dr. HARA Tomohiro (Major Fields: Development Economics, Alumni of University of Tsukuba, College of International Studies)
Date：Thursday, July 14, 2022
Time：16:45～18:15 (JST)
Venue：Onsite (3A308)
Abstract:
Balancing cultural diversity and national unity creates political challenges. Television broadcasts in South Africa promote both cultural diversity and national unity. I investigate the effects of television broadcasts on two outcomes—language choices in elementary schools which are associated with cultural identities, and voting shares of political parties that espouse opposite views on national unity. I digitize locations and features of television transmitters, leverage topographical variations that determine television broadcast coverage, and, using a difference-in-differences approach, estimate the effects of broadcasts on the two outcomes listed above. I find that the exposure to television broadcasts increases the use of native languages in schools, which contributes to cultural diversity but also to voting shares for the political parties that promote national unity.
Full Text：https://www.dropbox.com/s/bm0l8ripbfjeef8/Hara_UMD_JMP_2021.pdf?dl=0
