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The Role of Television in Household Debt: Evidence from the 1950's

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Author Info
Matthew J. Baker () (Hunter College)
Lisa M. George () (Hunter College)

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Abstract

We examine whether advertising increases household debt by studying the initial expansion of television in the 1950’s. Exploiting the idiosyncratic spread of television across markets, we use microdata from the Survey of Consumer Finances to test whether households with early access to television saw steeper debt increases than households with delayed access. Results indicate that television increases the tendency to borrow for household goods and to carry debt. Television is associated with higher debt levels for durable goods, but not with total non-mortgage debt. The role of media in household debt may be greater than suggested by existing research.

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Paper provided by Hunter College: Department of Economics in its series Hunter College Department of Economics Working Papers with number 427.

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Date of creation: 2009
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Handle: RePEc:htr:hcecon:427

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Related research
Keywords: Television; Debt; Advertising; Life Cycle;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Personal Finance
D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure and Pricing - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
D91 - Microeconomics - - Intertemporal Choice and Growth - - - Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving

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