Multidimensional Signaling and the Rise of Cultural Politics
Authors: Daron Acemoglu, Georgy Egorov, Konstantin Sonin
Published: 2026-03-02 · View on NBER · PDF
Abstract
In turbulent times, political labels become increasingly uninformative about politicians true policy preferences or their ability to withstand the influence of special interest groups. We offer a model in which politicians use campaign rhetoric to signal their political preferences in multiple
Analysis
Research Question
Why do politicians increasingly focus campaign rhetoric on cultural rather than economic issues, and how does multidimensional signaling explain this?
Data
Theoretical model; no new empirical dataset but grounded in political economy literature
Identification Strategy
Equilibrium model where politicians signal preferences in multiple dimensions; cultural signals are more precise → overweighted in rhetoric even when economy is more voter-relevant
Main Findings
When cultural dimension signals are more precise (easier to verify), politicians of all types signal more on culture. Unpopular types benefit from cultural conformity because it obscures their economic preferences. This generates a “rise of cultural politics” even when voters care more about the economy.
Limitations
Pure theory; no causal empirical validation; assumes rational Bayesian voters which may not hold
Connection to Current Research
Relevant to Project 2 (political attention + partisan alignment in earnings calls): the model explains why firms/politicians emphasize certain signals over others. For earnings calls, firms may similarly choose to signal partisan alignment on more precise/observable dimensions (e.g., explicit policy mentions) rather than underlying true preferences. The multidimensional signaling framework could motivate why partisan alignment in earnings call text is a meaningful signal — firms are choosing which dimensions to communicate.
Theoretical motivation for why text-based partisan signals in earnings calls are informative despite noise. Cite as motivation for why firms strategically select what political content to include in earnings calls — analogous to politicians choosing cultural vs. economic signals.