Welfare states, media ownership and attitudes towards redistribution

A sizable literature has examined the relationship between welfare state regimes and attitudes towards redistribution, generally expecting that citizens in more generous welfare states are more supportive of redistribution. However, empirical findings are inherently mixed. I argue that the role of the media has been neglected in this research. By providing cues to individuals, the media plays a strong role in shaping individual-level attitudes. These cues can be expected to vary according to the characteristics of national media systems. I test these claims with multilevel regression analysis of 18 European countries. The results show that redistribution support is lower where media ownership is more concentrated. Accounting for media ownership concentration helps to explain variation in attitudes towards redistribution, besides established determinants related to welfare state regimes. I outline implications for future research relating to the characteristics and regulation of media systems, news coverage, and the politics of inequality and redistribution.

已有海量学术文献探讨了福利国家制度（welfare state regimes）与再分配态度之间的关联，这类研究普遍预设，在福利供给更为慷慨的国家中，民众会更支持再分配。然而，实证研究的结果本身存在分歧。本文认为，此类研究忽视了媒体所扮演的角色。媒体通过为个体提供认知线索，在塑造个体层面态度方面发挥着关键作用，而这类线索会因各国媒体体系的特征而有所差异。本文基于对18个欧洲国家的多层回归分析（multilevel regression analysis）对上述论点进行了实证检验。结果显示，媒体所有权集中度（media ownership concentration）越高的地区，民众对再分配的支持度越低。除了已被学界证实的、与福利国家制度相关的决定因素外，纳入媒体所有权集中度这一变量，有助于解释再分配态度的差异。本文还阐述了未来研究的相关启示，涉及媒体体系的特征与监管、新闻报道，以及不平等与再分配政治等议题。