Market size of the media industry and freedom of press: an empirical study

Abstract

This paper empirically shows that the market size of the media sector is important for freedom of the press, in addition to the wealth of the country and type of political regime. I estimated freedom of the press using three variables: size of the media market, GDP per capita and the type of political regime. Freedom of the press was estimated using data for 48 countries from 2006 till 2009. The most important variable influencing freedom of the press is the type of political regime, but the size of the media market is also important. In countries with a larger media market, the press is freer.