When a local newspaper closes, the cost of government increases. That’s the conclusion of new survey from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, which draws a direct line between loss of the watchful eyes of local newspapers and a decline in government efficiency.

Paul Gao, a professor of finance at the college, said he got the idea for the study while watching John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight about the decline of local newspapers almost two years ago.

The result of that study, Financing Dies in Darkness? The Impact of Newspaper Closures on Public Finance, argues there is a direct correlation between the loss of a local paper and higher costing – or less efficient – government.

Dozens of local newspapers have closed, reduced their printing schedule or gone online in recent years. Circulation numbers have fallen approximately 27% from 2003 to 2014, according to the Pew Research Center and there has been a 35% decline in statehouse reporters.

Those reductions have come with a cost, according to Gao. A local newspaper, the authors conclude, holds an important and unique role in the proper functioning of the government and markets.

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