THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2026/2027

Draft Edition - Due to be published Thursday 9th April 2026

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Economics : Economics

Undergraduate Course: Economics of Media (ECNM10127)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Economics CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course discusses classic and recent research in economics that explores the role played by traditional and social media. We will look at how the media influence politicians¿ behaviour, voters¿ choices, and policy outcomes, and discuss the determinants of content choice (e.g. slant), including the role played by market structure. It then considers social media and what their features imply for political outcomes, individual well-being, and news production. The course touches upon current topics such as online hate speech and misinformation. These issues are considered mainly through the discussion of empirical research papers in economics. As part of the course, students will improve their understanding of state-of-the-art techniques for causal inference and learn to critically evaluate empirical research in economics. Students will also gain a foundational understanding of how economic thinking is applied to political decision-making and how political forces shape economic outcomes.
Course description The course refers to the typical educational activities and belongs to the scientific area of Economics. This course analyses the main up-to-date topics on the economics of media, with a particular emphasis on the effects on political and policy outcomes. The aim is to show how the quantitative toolkit of the modern economist may be used to analyse the impact of media. Topics covered in this course may include the different effects of traditional and social media on political and policy outcomes.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Economics 2 (ECNM08006) OR Economics 2A (ECNM08029) AND Economics 2B (ECNM08030)
Co-requisites Students MUST also take: Essentials of Econometrics (ECNM10052)
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the role played by media in the context of economics.
  2. Research and investigative skills such as problem framing and solving and the ability to assemble and evaluate complex evidence and arguments.
  3. Apply communication skills in order to critique, create and communicate understanding.
  4. Demonstrate personal effectiveness through task-management, time-management, dealing with uncertainty and adapting to new situations, personal and intellectual autonomy through independent learning.
  5. Apply practical/technical skills such as, modelling skills (abstraction, logic, succinctness), qualitative and quantitative analysis and general IT literacy.
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserProf Giacomo De Luca
Tel:
Email: gdeluca@ed.ac.uk
Course secretary
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