Television and Divorce: Evidence from Brazilian Novelas

Alberto Chong and Eliana La Ferrara

No 4611, Research Department Publications from Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department

Abstract: This paper studies the link between television and divorce in Brazil by exploiting variation in the timing of availability of the signal of Rede Globo—the network that had a virtual monopoly on telenovelas in the country—across municipal areas. Using three rounds of Census data (1970, 1980 and 1991) and controlling for area fixed effects and for time-varying characteristics, the paper finds that the share of women who are separated or divorced increases significantly after the Globo signal becomes available. The effect is robust to controlling for potential determinants of Globo’s entry strategy and is stronger for relatively smaller areas, where the signal reaches a higher fraction of the population.

Keywords: Divorce; Television; Brazil; Soap Operas; Media; Women; Empowerment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J12 N36 O1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cul, nep-hap, nep-lab and nep-lam
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (114)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Television and Divorce: Evidence from Brazilian Novelas (2009)
Working Paper: Television and Divorce: Evidence from Brazilian Novelas (2009)
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