Peiyuan Li (Duke Kunshan University) - State Censorship and Global Demand: Evidence from China’s Book Bans

BOFIT-seminarier

BOFIT Seminar - Peiyuan Li (Duke Kunshan University) - State Censorship and Global Demand: Evidence from China’s Book Bans

Abstract
Does censorship suppress the content it targets, or advertise it? Evidence from public book bans suggests restriction can raise demand, but little is known about quiet removal under an authoritarian information regime. This project reconstructs the removal histories of politically sensitive history books from China's book review platform using web archives, and links them to activity on an international review platform and to global search interest. Staggered difference in differences designs estimate dynamic effects around removal. Preliminary results show no clear censorship premium. This suggests that when censorship operates silently rather than through public prohibition, it may withhold the very signal that generates backlash, controlling attention by removing visibility rather than by forbidding access.

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