@TechReport{iza:izadps:dp18534,
            	author={Mattozzi, Andrea and Nocito, Samuel and Sobbrio, Francesco},
            	title={Fact-Checking Politicians},
            	year={2026},
	month={Apr},
            	institution={Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)},
            	address={Bonn},
            	type={IZA Discussion Paper},
            	number={18534},
            	url={https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18534},
	abstract={We study how politicians respond to the fact-checking of their public statements. Our research design employs a difference-in-differences approach, complemented by a randomized field intervention conducted in collaboration with a leading fact-checking organization. We find that fact-checking discourages politicians from making factually incorrect statements, with effects lasting several weeks. At the same time, we show that fact-checking neither increases nor displaces correct statements. Politicians who are fact-checked tend to substitute incorrect statements with either no statements or unverifiable ones, suggesting that they may also respond by increasing the “ambiguity” of their language to avoid public scrutiny.},
	keywords={fact-checking;politicians;accountability;verifiability},
            }