Soap Operas and Fertility: Evidence from Brazil

Eliana La Ferrara, Suzanne Duryea and Alberto Chong

No 1623, IDB Publications (Working Papers) from Inter-American Development Bank

Abstract: This paper focuses on fertility choices in Brazil, a country where soap operas (novelas) portray families that are much smaller than in reality, to study the effects of television on individual behavior. Using Census data for the period 1970-1991, the paper finds that women living in areas covered by the Globo signal have significantly lower fertility. The effect is strongest for women of lower socioeconomic status and for women in the central and late phases of their fertility cycle. Finally, the paper provides evidence that novelas, rather than television in general, affected individual choices.

Keywords: WP-633 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-06
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (19)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Soap Operas and Fertility: Evidence from Brazil (2012)
Working Paper: Soap Operas and Fertility: Evidence from Brazil (2008)
Working Paper: Soap Operas and Fertility: Evidence from Brazil (2008)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:idb:brikps:1623

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