Media exposure and local economic transformation: Evidence from place-based anime broadcasting in Japan

This study examines whether media exposure can drive local economic development using the case of anime “holy lands” in Japan—real-world locations depicted in animated works. Exploiting staggered anime broadcasts across municipalities from 2000 to 2020, I estimate causal effects using a difference-in-differences design and a complementary shift-share instrumental variable strategy. The results show that featured municipalities experience increases in income per taxpayer (about 1%) and night-time luminosity, with effects emerging after several years. These gains are not driven by tourism or local government spending. Instead, the results suggest that population inflows—primarily through increased in-migration—play an important role. Consistent with this interpretation, residential and commercial land prices rise, consistent with increased local attractiveness. Overall, media exposure appears to reshape local economies by influencing residential location choices, with the results suggesting an important role for spatial population redistribution.