Media and Political Persuasion: Evidence from Russia
利用俄罗斯1999年议会选举中唯一独立于政府的全国性电视频道信号覆盖的偶然差异，发现独立电视使政府党得票率降低8.9个百分点，反对党得票率提高6.3个百分点，投票率下降3.8个百分点。
This paper compares electoral outcomes of 1999 parliamentary elections in Russia among geographical areas with differential access to the only national TV channel independent from the government. It was available to three-quarters of Russia's population and its signal availability was idiosyncratic, conditional on observables. Independent TV decreased aggregate vote for the government party by 8.9 percentage points, increased the combined vote for major opposition parties by 6.3 percentage points, and decreased turnout by 3.8 percentage points. The probability of voting for opposition parties increased for individuals who watched independent TV even controlling for voting intentions measured one month before elections.