Data and Code for: "How the Internet Changed the Market for Print Media"

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Manudeep Bhuller, University of Oslo; Tarjei Havnes, Norwegian Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion; Jeremy McCauley, University of Bristol; Magne Mogstad, University of Chicago

Version: View help for Version V1

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Project Citation:

Bhuller, Manudeep, Havnes, Tarjei, McCauley, Jeremy, and Mogstad, Magne. Data and Code for: “How the Internet Changed the Market for Print Media.” Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2024. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2024-03-01. https://doi.org/10.3886/E184302V1

Project Description

Summary:

Combining comprehensive data from the Norwegian media market on newspaper circulation, readership, revenues, factor inputs, and product characteristics with plausibly exogenous variation in the availability and adoption of broadband internet, this paper provides causal evidence on how the internet affected the traditional print media market. Household adoption of broadband internet triggered large reductions in print readership and circulation and equally large increases in online news readership. Despite strong substitution from print to online news consumption, newspaper firms’ revenues fell by almost 30%. Newspaper firms responded by dramatically cutting costs, either by shedding labor inputs or by reducing the physical size of newspaper sheets, and in doing so avoided meaningful losses in profits. The printed newspaper product available to customers also changed, as newspapers shifted content away from tabloid to more serious news. This paper offers a case study on how an adverse technology shock transmits through firms with multiple margins of adjustment, and provides an explanation for the economic resilience of newspapers.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: Internet; Print Media; Technological Change; Market Structure

JEL Classification:
      L11 Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
      L82 Entertainment; Media
      L86 Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
      O33 Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
      R22 Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics: Other Demand

Geographic Coverage: Norway

Time Period(s): 1991 – 2014

Universe: Data on 81 Norwegian newspapers published 1991-2014.

Data Type(s): aggregate data; other

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Published Versions

V1 [2024-03-01]

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