The power of TV: cable television and women's status in India

Type Working Paper - National Bureau of Economic Research
Title The power of TV: cable television and women's status in India
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2007
URL http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/124/3/1057.full.pdf
Abstract
Cable and satellite television have spread rapidly throughout the developing world. These media sources expose viewers to new information about the outside world and other ways of life, which may affect attitudes and behaviors. This paper explores the effect of the introduction of cable television on women’s status in rural India. Using a three-year, individual-level panel data set, we ?nd that the introduction of cable television is associated with signi?cant decreases in the reported acceptability of domestic violence toward women and son preference, as well as increases in women’s autonomy and decreases in fertility. We also ?nd suggestive evidence that exposure to cable increases school enrollment for younger children, perhaps through increased participation of women in household decision making. We argue that the results are not driven by preexisting differential trends

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