Economic and political dependencies in cultural voting: A gravity model analysis of Eurovision

This paper examines the factors shaping voting behaviour in the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) by applying a gravity model to bilateral voting data from Grand Finals between 1995 and 2019. Using Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood (PPML) estimation this work analyses how non-ESC related factors su...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alina M. Schoenberg, Dimitrios G. Ierapetritis, Chiara Foramitti, Christopher Schwand
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Romanian Regional Science Association 2025-06-01
Series:Romanian Journal of Regional Science
Online Access:https://rjrs.ase.ro/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/1-Alina%20Schoenberg.pdf
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Summary:This paper examines the factors shaping voting behaviour in the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) by applying a gravity model to bilateral voting data from Grand Finals between 1995 and 2019. Using Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood (PPML) estimation this work analyses how non-ESC related factors such as economic ties, population size, migration, and geographic proximity, diplomatic and political ties affect voting behaviour in the participating countries. The findings highlight geopolitical, economic, and diasporic dynamics underlying Eurovision voting patterns and contribute to broader discussions on cultural affinity and soft power in international relations.
ISSN:1843-8520