Internet, Social Media, and the Behavior of Politicians: Evidence from Facebook in Brazil

Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs 

Trade, Development and Political Economy presents

Internet, Social Media, and the Behavior of Politicians: Evidence from Facebook in Brazil

Authors: Pedro Bessone, Filipe Campante, Claudio Ferraz and Pedro CL Souza

Recent years have witnessed the remarkable diffusion of social media in tandem with the spread of mobile phones that are, in many places, the key tool for accessing those media. The authors ask whether this has affected the communication and responsiveness of politicians to[1]wards voters. Using data on the spread of the 3G mobile phone network in Brazil, and self-collected data on the universe of Facebook activities by federal legislators, they examine how legislators respond when municipalities that are part of their electoral base obtain access to the 3G technology.

Claudio Ferraz 

University of British Columbia

Claudio Ferraz is Professor of Economics at the University of British Columbia in Canada. His research focuses on Political Economy and Development Economics. In particular, he works on issues related to governance and accountability in developing countries, politics and public service delivery, electoral rules and political selection etc.  His work has been published In top Economics journals such as the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy and Quarterly Journal of Economics. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of California -Berkeley. 

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