[liberationtech] The Unintended Consequences of Internet Diffusion: Evidence from Malaysia - CDDRL

[Eugen Leitl]

----- Forwarded message from Yosem Companys <companys at stanford.edu> -----

Date: Wed, 09 Oct 2013 10:01:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: Yosem Companys <companys at stanford.edu>
To: Liberation Technologies <liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu>
Subject: [liberationtech] The Unintended Consequences of Internet Diffusion: Evidence from	Malaysia - CDDRL
Message-ID: <20130929032139.14625.98397 at domU-12-31-39-0A-A0-4F>
Reply-To: liberationtech <liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu>

http://cddrl.stanford.edu/events/7900

The Unintended Consequences of Internet Diffusion: Evidence from Malaysia  
Program on Liberation Technology Seminar Series

DATE AND TIME
October 10, 2013
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM

AVAILABILITY
Open to the public
No RSVP required

SPEAKER
Luke Miner - Data Scientist at Stanford University

Abstract:
Can the introduction of the Internet undermine incumbent power in a semi-authoritarian regime? I examine this question using evidence from Malaysia, where the incumbent coalition lost its 40-year monopoly on power in 2008. I develop a novel methodology for measuring Internet penetration, matching IP addresses with physical locations, and apply it to the 2004 to 2008 period in Malaysia. Using distance to the backbone to instrument for endogenous Internet penetration, I find that areas with higher Internet penetration experience higher voter turnout and higher candidate turnover, with the Internet accounting for one-third of the 11% swing against the incumbent party in 2008. The results suggest that, in the absence of the Internet, the opposition would not have achieved its historic upset in the 2008 elections.

Luke Miner is a recent Ph.D. in Economics from the London School of Economics. He was also a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) in the Liberation Technology program. He is currently working as a data scientist in the tech sector.

Miner’s research interests are political economy and development economics. In particular, he aims to quantitatively assess the effect of the Internet and new media on political accountability, development, and election outcomes. His past research finds a strong effect of Internet diffusion on results of Malaysia's 2008 elections, where it contributed to the ruling coalition's largest electoral setback in thirty years. His current research looks at the effect of the Internet on the 2008 US presidential elections, in particular as a means of promoting campaign contributions.

LOCATION
Wallenberg Theater
Wallenberg Hall
450 Serra Mall, Building 160
Stanford, Ca 94305-2055

-- 
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of list guidelines will get you moderated: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, change to digest, or change password by emailing moderator at companys at stanford.edu.


----- End forwarded message -----
-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
______________________________________________________________
ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://ativel.com http://postbiota.org
AC894EC5: 38A5 5F46 A4FF 59B8 336B  47EE F46E 3489 AC89 4EC5