Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP10667
Authors: Stefano Dellavigna; Eliana La Ferrara
Abstract: We review the literature on the impact of exposure to the media. We cast a wide net and cover media impacts on education, family choices, labor and migration decisions, environmental choices, health, crime, public economics, attitudes, consumption and savings, and development economics. We stress five themes. First, the demand for entertainment plays a key role, with the economic impacts emerging largely as by-products. Second, to understand the media effects one cannot just focus on the direct effect of exposure but one needs to take into account the crowding-out of alternative activities (substitution effect). Third, the sources of identification play a critical role in determining what is known: credible estimates of short- and long run effects are available for some topics and some media but not for others. Fourth, most of the evidence on social and economic impacts is for exposure to the entertainment media such as television, as opposed to the printed press. Fifth, for the policy impacts both the substitution effect of media exposure and the demand for entertainment play an important role.
Keywords: edutainment; imitation; internet; media; economics; persuasion; radio; television
JEL Codes: A13; D01; H4; I10; I20; J00; K42; L82; L96; O10
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| television exposure (L82) | educational achievement (I24) |
| television exposure (L82) | time spent on studying (I21) |
| television exposure (L82) | social interactions (Z13) |
| exposure to violent media content (L82) | aggressive behavior (C92) |
| exposure to violent media content (L82) | violent crime (K42) |
| exposure to entertainment media (L82) | fertility rates (J13) |
| educational programming exposure (I24) | cognitive development (O11) |
| educational programming exposure (I24) | parental investments in education (I26) |