Description:

Speaker: Yifang Zhang

Title: "Radio (Counter-)propaganda and Job Choice”

Abstract: This paper studies how foreign counter-propaganda shapes political attitudes and economic behavior in authoritarian regimes. I exploit the decriminalization of foreign radio listening in mainland China between 1979 and 1989 to examine the impact of exposure to the Voice of Free China (VFC), a Taiwan-based anti-communism broadcaster. I combine predicted radio signal strength with individual-level census and survey data in a cohort difference-in-differences design. Greater exposure to VFC reduced the likelihood of bureaucratic employment, increased entrepreneurial activity, lowered trust in local officials, and decreased Chinese Communist Party membership. By contrast, exposure to Voice of America,a more neutral broadcaster, had no effect on job choice. These results demonstrate that foreign media can directly reshape economic and political choices in authoritarian societies, even without significant change in political system.