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War of the Waves: Radio and Resistance during World War II

  • Stefano Gagliarducci
  • Massimiliano Gaetano Onorato
  • Francesco Sobbrio
  • Guido Tabellini
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 12, no. 4, October 2020
(pp. 1-38)
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Abstract

We analyze the role of the media in coordinating and mobilizing insurgency against an authoritarian regime, in the context of the Nazi-fascist occupation of Italy during WWII. We study the effect of BBC radio on the intensity of internal resistance. By exploiting variations in monthly sunspot activity that affect the sky-wave propagation of BBC broadcasting toward Italy, we show that BBC radio had a strong impact on political violence. We provide further evidence to document that BBC radio played an important role in coordinating resistance activities but had no lasting role in motivating the population against the Nazi-fascist regime.

Citation

Gagliarducci, Stefano, Massimiliano Gaetano Onorato, Francesco Sobbrio, and Guido Tabellini. 2020. "War of the Waves: Radio and Resistance during World War II." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 12 (4): 1-38. DOI: 10.1257/app.20190410

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D74 Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
  • L82 Entertainment; Media
  • N44 Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: Europe: 1913-
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