Economics

1. Business Confidence – the Role of the Media Presenter: Prof. Dr. Jan-Egbert Sturm, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich, Switzerland Economics The recent one and a half years have demonstrated the pivotal role of media in selecting, channeling and distributing information on the economy as well as individual businesses and the media‘s impact on consumer confidence and business climate. The workshop will explain the mechanics behind the media impact on business scrutinizing to what extend coverage on leading indicators on the economic development in opinion-leading German media has an impact on the most popular and influential German economic indicator, the ifo business climate index. The results display, that the media is stronger in influencing entrepreneur’s expectations than have an impact on their assessment of the current status of their own businesses. Chart 1: Media coverage of Leading Indicators vs. ifo Index Basis: 722 stories on leading indicators of the economy

2. Chart 2: Media Coverage on the Economy vs. Consumer confidence The workshop is meant for help economists get a better understanding of how to enhance traditional forecasting by media / psychological factors. It will help journalists to get a better understanding of the impact of their news selection and framing of stories. Economics Basis: 9,739 reports about the state of the German economy in 5 TV news, GfK Consumer Climate index