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Wednesday, 24 June, 2026

Master´s Thesis Defense Presentations June 2026

Defense Committee: Teresa Freitas-Monteiro, Jan Zápal, Yiman Sun

9:00

Blend Berisha: How Wartime Violence Shapes Post-Conflict Voting: The Electoral Legacy of War in Kosovo

10:00

Boris Gerát: Risk Channel of Monetary Policy and Heterogeneity in the Financial Sector

11:00

Rebeka Hoblik: Priming Protectionism: 19th Century Tariff Exposure and the Shape of Public Discourse in Newspapers

13:00

Maggi Cardoso Giovana: Financial Incentives and Sustainable Mobility: Evaluating the Impact of the Ecobonus Program in Italy

14:00:

Petr Rusnok: Why ICT Matters Less in Europe: Financial Structure and Organizational Investment

15:00

González Munoz René Sebastian: Intertemporal consistency and performance in project realization outcomes

Hoblik Rebeka Ingrid

Abstract:

This thesis examines the shape of public discourse on protectionism as gleaned through newspaper data as a function of increased tariff exposure from the McKinley Tariff of 1890. Situated in the window surrounding the start of the 1880s to the start of the 1890s, I model tariff-exposure using shift-share instruments which weight the industry-level changes in tariff rates and duty type counts from the Mongrel Tariff of 1883 to the McKinley Tariff of 1890 by county-level industry employment compositions. This cross-sectional analysis examines the average changes in protectionist newspaper slant and other tariff related term frequency outcomes on the county-level as a function of increased tariff exposure and explores differential correlations in above and below median manufacturing subsamples. Although the results are generally null and modest in magnitude across specifications, the direction of the correlations provides suggestive evidence that counties with above median manufacturing employment saw increases in protectionist slant in newspapers, reflective of a demand-side interpretation of newspaper content. On the other hand, low manufacturing counties produce conflicting estimates, suggesting a potential supplyside interpretation of changes protectionist newspaper content. Overall, tariff exposure does not appear to significantly predict changes in newspaper outcomes, but future work with more disaggregated and complete data could improve upon this model.

Full Text: “Priming Protectionism: 19th Century Tariff Exposure and the Shape of Public Discourse in Newspapers"