“It’s the Economy, Stupid!”, Is it not? The Relationship between Press Freedom and the Status of the Economy in Western Media Systems

Figures & data

Table 1. The groups of countries (national media systems) used for the study.

Groups	Countries
Group 1: Democratic/corporatist media systems	Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark
Group 2: Liberal media systems	USA, UK, Ireland, Canada
Group 3: Mediterranean/polarized media systems	Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece
Group 4: Post-Communist media systems	Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic

Table 2. Annual correlations between the two press freedom indices.

2002	0.5165	2011	0.8572
2003	0.3302	2012	0.8513
2004	0.5633	2013	0.8735
2005	0.7956	2014	0.8669
2006	0.6653	2015	0.8987
2007	0.7076	2016	0.8955
2008	0.8060	2017	0.9024
2009	0.8284	2018	0.8650
2010	0.8539	2019	0.8675

Table 3. Correlations among independent variables and press freedom.

	Press Freedom
GDP per capita growth	−0.06
Gross domestic savings	0.30
Unemployment	−0.26
Inflation	0.12
General government debt	−0.36
General government fiscal balance	0.13
CPI score	−0.54
10-year bond yield	0.04
Short-term policy interest rate	0.21
Liberal democracy index	0.54
Political civil liberties index	0.53
Civil Liberties index	0.58

Table 4. Unit root tests.

Variable	p-value
GDP per capita growth	0.0000
Gross domestic savings	0.0033
Unemployment	0.000
Inflation	0.0000
General government debt	0.0002
General government fiscal balance	0.0000
CPI score—corruption	0.0004
Bond yield −10 year	0.3664
Short-term policy interest rate	0.0001
Liberal democracy index	0.9294
Political civil liberties index	0.9940
Civil liberties index	0.9802

Table 5. Correlations among Press Freedom, Growth and CPI.

	Press freedom	GDP growth	CPI score
Press freedom	1	−0.055	-.541
GDP growth	−0.055	1	0.061
CPI score	-.541	0.061	1

Table 6. Estimation results (total sample).

	Coefficient	Robust Standard Error	t-test	P>|t|
GDP per capita growth	0.35	0.12	2.81	0.005
Gross domestic savings	−0.28	0.14	−1.98	0.049
Unemployment	0.37	0.17	2.21	0.028
Inflation	0.91	0.27	3.41	0.001
General government fiscal balance	−0.59	0.12	−5.00	0.000
General government debt	−0.18	0.03	−6.57	0.000
Short-term policy interest rate	0.72	0.24	3.02	0.003
CPI score—corruption	−0.31	0.08	−3.73	0.000
Bond yield—first difference	0.01	0.26	0.06	0.955
Liberal democracy index—first difference	3.16	16.58	0.19	0.849
Political civil liberties index—first difference	25.21	30.56	0.83	0.410
Civil liberties index—first difference	47.06	37.48	1.26	0.210
Constant	113.37	5.15	22.03	0.000
R-square	0.3384
F-test (joint significance)	0.0000

Table 7. Estimation results—Democratic/corporatist media systems (Group 1).

	Coefficient	Robust Standard Error	t-test	P>|t|
GDP per capita growth	−0.29	0.27	−1.07	0.290
Gross domestic savings	0.29	0.45	0.65	0.516
Unemployment	−0.41	0.67	−0.62	0.540
Inflation	1.35	0.64	2.10	0.037
General government fiscal balance	−0.16	0.43	−0.37	0.716
General government debt	0.09	0.08	1.08	0.286
Short-term policy interest rate	0.16	0.66	0.25	0.803
CPI score—corruption	−1.15	0.25	−4.65	0.000
Bond yield—first difference	−0.67	1.25	−0.54	0.594
Liberal democracy index—first difference	45.00	43.42	1.04	0.304
Political civil liberties index—first difference	3.30	85.68	0.04	0.969
Civil liberties index—first difference	134.78	88.05	1.53	0.131
Constant	87.32	10.47	8.34	0.000
R-square	0.3577
F-test (joint significance)	0.0000

Table 8. Estimation results—Liberal media systems (Group 2).

	Coefficient	Robust Standard Error	t-test	P>|t|
GDP per capita growth	−0.08	0.18	−0.43	0.672
Gross domestic savings	0.06	0.17	0.37	0.716
Unemployment	2.34	0.41	5.66	0.000
Inflation	2.24	0.50	4.45	0.000
General government fiscal balance	−0.28	0.18	−1.55	0.127
General government debt	−0.31	0.04	−7.35	0.000
Short-term policy interest rate	−0.37	0.51	−0.72	0.474
CPI score—corruption	−0.51	0.25	−2.08	0.039
Bond yield—first difference	−0.07	0.59	−0.12	0.901
Liberal democracy index—first difference	−24.37	28.86	−0.84	0.403
Political civil liberties index—first difference	17.68	84.35	0.21	0.835
Civil liberties index—first difference	32.71	47.34	0.69	0.493
Constant	96.99	7.86	12.33	0.000
R-square	0.3067
F-test (joint significance)	0.0000

Table 9. Estimation results—Mediterranean/polarized media systems (Group 3).

	Coefficient	Robust Standard Error	t-test	P>|t|
GDP per capita growth	0.41	0.23	1.81	0.077
Gross domestic savings	0.97	0.40	2.42	0.019
Unemployment	0.04	0.18	0.24	0.814
Inflation	0.52	0.40	1.31	0.198
General government fiscal balance	−0.66	0.16	−4.07	0.000
General government debt	−0.11	0.04	−2.97	0.005
Short-term policy interest rate	1.35	0.48	2.83	0.007
CPI score—corruption	−0.14	0.14	−1.02	0.313
Bond yield—first difference	0.33	0.19	1.75	0.087
Liberal democracy index—first difference	3.84	22.56	0.17	0.866
Political civil liberties index—first difference	20.51	70.58	0.29	0.773
Civil liberties index—first difference	−2.96	52.59	−0.06	0.955
Constant	84.85	13.59	6.24	0.000
R-square	0.5694
F-test (joint significance)	0.0000

Table 10. Estimation results—Post-Communist media systems (Group 4).

	Coefficient	Robust Standard Error	t-test	P>|t|
GDP per capita growth	0.81	0.26	3.08	0.003
Gross domestic savings	−1.39	0.31	−4.45	0.000
Unemployment	0.38	0.36	1.04	0.303
Inflation	1.28	0.43	2.95	0.004
General government fiscal balance	−2.14	0.37	−5.72	0.000
General government debt	0.11	0.12	0.86	0.392
Short-term policy interest rate	−0.47	0.40	−1.17	0.245
CPI score—corruption	−0.22	0.15	−1.49	0.142
Bond yield—first difference	0.42	0.82	0.51	0.615
Liberal democracy index—first difference	0.33	24.47	0.01	0.989
Political civil liberties index—first difference	16.55	43.29	0.38	0.703
Civil liberties index—first difference	60.21	64.96	0.93	0.358
Constant	166.76	15.67	10.64	0.000
R-square	0.3072
F-test (joint significance)	0.0000

Table A1. Descriptive statistics.

	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Std. Deviation
Press freedom	50.00	95.20	74.50	9.40
GDP per capita growth (annual %)	−9.10	25.20	2.10	3.00
Gross domestic savings (% of GDP)	8.30	57.60	23.70	7.90
Unemployment, total (% of total labor force)	2.00	27.50	8.30	4.50
Inflation, consumer prices (annual %)	−4.50	22.50	2.10	2.30
General government debt (% of GDP)	11.90	184.80	66.40	34.60
General government fiscal balance (% of GDP)	−0.90	51.60	30.20	5.07
CPI score (0 = very clean—100 = highly corrupt)	3.00	74.00	33.40	18.70
10-year bond yield	0.02	22.50	4.06	2.35
Short-term policy interest rate	0.11	29.10	3.08	2.93
Liberal democracy index	0.39	0.89	0.77	0.10
Political civil liberties index	0.67	0.98	0.95	0.04
Civil liberties index	0.82	0.97	0.93	0.03

Table A2. Specification tests for all countries.

Tests:	Probability	Decision
Hausman Test H0: Random Effects Model H1: Fixed Effects Model	0.000	Use the fixed effects estimation method
Wald Test H0: Homoscedasticity H1: Heteroscedasticity	0.000	Obtain heteroscedasticity robust standard errors
Pesaran Test H0: Residuals are not correlated H1: Residuals are correlated	0.388	Not correlated
Granger—causality test -Press Freedom H0: Selected covariates do not Granger—cause H1: Null is violated	0.0000	Covariates Granger—cause press freedom
Granger causality test—GDP growth	0.5444	Press freedom does not Granger—cause GDP growth
Granger causality test -CPI	0.0000	Press freedom Granger—cause CPI
Endogeneity test H0: Covariates are exogenous H1: Null is violated	0.1206	Regressors are exogenous

Table A3. Specification tests—Democratic/corporatist media systems (Group 1).

Tests:	Probability	Decision
Hausman Test H0: Random Effects Model H1: Fixed Effects Model	0.0392	Use the fixed effects estimation method
Wald Test H0: Homoscedasticity H1: Heteroscedasticity	0.0202	Obtain heteroscedasticity robust standard errors
Pesaran Test H0: Residuals are not correlated H1: Residuals are correlated	0.592	Not correlated
Granger—causality test -Press Freedom H0: Selected covariates do not Granger—cause H1: Null is violated	0.0000	Covariates Granger—cause press freedom
Granger causality test—GDP growth	0.108	Press freedom does not Granger—cause GDP growth
Granger causality test -CPI	0.023	Press freedom Granger—cause CPI
Endogeneity test H0: Covariates are exogenous H1: Null is violated	0.2033	Regressors are exogenous

Table A4. Specification tests—Liberal media systems (Group 2).

Tests:	Probability	Decision
Hausman Test H0: Random Effects Model H1: Fixed Effects Model	0.0004	Use the fixed effects estimation method
Wald Test H0: Homoscedasticity H1: Heteroscedasticity	0.512	Homoscedasticity
Pesaran Test H0: Residuals are not correlated H1: Residuals are correlated	0.311	Not correlated
Granger—causality test -Press Freedom H0: Selected covariates do not Granger—cause H1: Null is violated	0.0000	Covariates Granger—cause press freedom
Granger causality test—GDP growth	0.569	Press freedom does not Granger—cause GDP growth
Granger causality test -CPI	0.145	Press freedom does not Granger—cause CPI
Endogeneity test H0: Covariates are exogenous H1: Null is violated	0.575	Regressors are exogenous

Table A5. Specification tests—Mediterranean/polarized media systems (Group 3).

Tests:	Probability	Decision
Hausman Test H0: Random Effects Model H1: Fixed Effects Model	0.000	Use the fixed effects estimation method
Wald Test H0: Homoscedasticity H1: Heteroscedasticity	0.000	Obtain heteroscedasticity robust standard errors
Pesaran Test H0: Residuals are not correlated H1: Residuals are correlated	0.463	Not correlated
Granger—causality test -Press Freedom H0: Selected covariates do not Granger—cause H1: Null is violated	0.000	Covariates Granger—cause press freedom
Granger causality test—GDP growth	0.409	Press freedom does not Granger—cause GDP growth
Granger causality test -CPI	0.509	Press freedom does not Granger—cause CPI
Endogeneity test H0: Covariates are exogenous H1: Null is violated	0.848	Regressors are exogenous

Table A6. Specification tests—Post-Communist media systems (Group 4).

Tests:	Probability	Decision
Hausman Test H0: Random Effects Model H1: Fixed Effects Model	0.000	Use the fixed effects estimation method
Wald Test H0: Homoscedasticity H1: Heteroscedasticity	0.014	Obtain heteroscedasticity robust standard errors
Pesaran Test H0: Residuals are not correlated H1: Residuals are correlated	0.383	Not correlated
Granger—causality test -Press Freedom H0: Selected covariates do not Granger—cause H1: Null is violated	0.000	Covariates Granger—cause press freedom
Granger causality test—GDP growth	0.650	Press freedom does not Granger—cause GDP growth
Granger causality test -CPI	0.000	Press freedom Granger—cause CPI
Endogeneity test H0: Covariates are exogenous H1: Null is violated	0.629	Regressors are exogenous