IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/zbw/ireejl/193886.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Tweet Sixteen and Pregnant: Missing Links in the Causal Chain from Reality TV to Fertility. A replication study of Kearney & Levine (American Economic Review, 2015)*

* This paper is a replication of an original study

Author

Listed:
  • Jaeger, David A.
  • Joyce, Theodore J.
  • Kaestner, Robert

Abstract

We replicate and extend the analysis of the positive association between social media (Google searches and tweets) and the MTV program 16 and Pregnant recently published by Melissa Kearney and Phillip Levine (2015). We find that the relationship disappears or even turns negative when we include in the analysis periods when new episodes of 16 and Pregnant were not being broadcast. The results are also sensitive to the use of weights. Our results cast substantial doubt on social media as a link in the causal chain between reality television and fertility.

Suggested Citation

  • Jaeger, David A. & Joyce, Theodore J. & Kaestner, Robert, 2019. "Tweet Sixteen and Pregnant: Missing Links in the Causal Chain from Reality TV to Fertility. A replication study of Kearney & Levine (American Economic Review, 2015)," International Journal for Re-Views in Empirical Economics (IREE), ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 3(2019-1), pages 1-16.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ireejl:193886
    DOI: 10.18718/81781.10
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/193886/1/IREE-2019-01.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.18718/81781.10?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David A. Jaeger & Theodore J. Joyce & Robert Kaestner, 2020. "A Cautionary Tale of Evaluating Identifying Assumptions: Did Reality TV Really Cause a Decline in Teenage Childbearing?," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(2), pages 317-326, April.
    2. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    3. Newey, Whitney & West, Kenneth, 2014. "A simple, positive semi-definite, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation consistent covariance matrix," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 33(1), pages 125-132.
    4. Kearney, Melissa S. & Levine, Phillip B., 2016. "Does Reality TV Induce Real Effects? A Response to Jaeger, Joyce, and Kaestner (2016)," IZA Discussion Papers 10318, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Melissa S. Kearney & Phillip B. Levine, 2015. "Media Influences on Social Outcomes: The Impact of MTV's 16 and Pregnant on Teen Childbearing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(12), pages 3597-3632, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nie, Peng & Peng, Xu & Luo, Tianyuan, 2023. "Internet use and fertility behavior among reproductive-age women in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David A. Jaeger & Theodore J. Joyce & Robert Kaestner, 2019. "Tweet Sixteen and Pregnant: Missing Links in the Causal Chain from Reality TV to Fertility," NBER Working Papers 25446, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Lindo, Jason M. & Swensen, Isaac D. & Waddell, Glen R., 2022. "Effects of violent media content: Evidence from the rise of the UFC," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. Peppel-Srebrny, Jemima, 2021. "Not all government budget deficits are created equal: Evidence from advanced economies' sovereign bond markets," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    4. Xiao Lin, 2020. "Feeling Is Believing? Evidence From Earthquake Shaking Experience and Insurance Demand," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 87(2), pages 351-380, June.
    5. Sheng-Syan Chen & Chia-Wei Huang & Chuan-Yang Hwang & Yanzhi Wang, 2022. "Voluntary disclosure and corporate innovation," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1081-1115, April.
    6. Marcelo Moreira & Geert Ridder, 2019. "Efficiency loss of asymptotically efficient tests in an instrumental variables regression," CeMMAP working papers CWP03/19, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    7. Swami, Megha & Scott, Anthony, 2021. "Impact of rural workforce incentives on access to GP services in underserved areas: Evidence from a natural experiment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    8. Fletcher, Jason M. & Polos, Jessica, 2017. "Nonmarital and Teen Fertility," IZA Discussion Papers 10833, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Sven Kunze, 2021. "Unraveling the Effects of Tropical Cyclones on Economic Sectors Worldwide: Direct and Indirect Impacts," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 78(4), pages 545-569, April.
    10. Christian, Paul & Barrett, Christopher B., 2022. "Spurious Regressions and Panel IV Estimation: Revisiting the Causes of Conflict," I4R Discussion Paper Series 1, The Institute for Replication (I4R).
    11. Girardi, Alessandro & Ventura, Marco & Margani, Patrizia, 2018. "An Indicator of Credit Crunch using Italian Business Surveys," MPRA Paper 88839, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Florian Flachenecker, 2018. "The causal impact of material productivity on macroeconomic competitiveness in the European Union," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 20(1), pages 17-46, January.
    13. Coble, David & Pincheira, Pablo, 2017. "Nowcasting Building Permits with Google Trends," MPRA Paper 76514, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Kristine Hermanrud & Indra de Soysa, 2017. "Lazy thinking, lazy giving? Examining the effects of Norwegian aid on forests in developing countries," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 20(1), pages 19-41, March.
    15. Reinhold Kosfeld & Timo Mitze & Johannes Rode & Klaus Wälde, 2021. "The Covid‐19 containment effects of public health measures: A spatial difference‐in‐differences approach," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 799-825, September.
    16. Cansu Oymak & Jean-François Maystadt, 2023. "Can refugees improve native children’s health?: Evidence from Turkey," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2023017, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    17. A. Colin Cameron & Douglas L. Miller, 2015. "A Practitioner’s Guide to Cluster-Robust Inference," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(2), pages 317-372.
    18. Kunze, Sven, 2020. "Unraveling the effects of tropical cyclones on economic sectors worldwide," Working Papers 0685, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    19. Batkeyev, Birzhan & DeRemer, David R., 2023. "Mountains of evidence: The effects of abnormal air pollution on crime," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 288-319.
    20. Jonathan I. Dingel & Kyle C. Meng & Solomon M. Hsiang, 2019. "Spatial Correlation, Trade, and Inequality: Evidence from the Global Climate," NBER Working Papers 25447, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    Replication

    This item is a replication of:
  • Melissa S. Kearney & Phillip B. Levine, 2015. "Media Influences on Social Outcomes: The Impact of MTV's 16 and Pregnant on Teen Childbearing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(12), pages 3597-3632, December.

    • More about this item

    Keywords

    social media; fertility; birth control; abortion; 16 and Pregnant; event study; replication study;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access

    Lists

    This item is featured on the following reading lists, Wikipedia, or ReplicationWiki pages:
    1. Tweet Sixteen and Pregnant: Missing Links in the Causal Chain from Reality TV to Fertility. A replication study of Kearney & Levine (American Economic Review, 2015) (Int J Re-Views in Emp Econ 2019) in ReplicationWiki

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:ireejl:193886. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/zbwkide.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.