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Exposure to foreign media and changes in cultural traits: Evidence from naming patterns in France

Author

Listed:
  • Anne-Celia Disdier

    (INRA-INAPG, UMR Economie Publique)

  • Keith Head

    (Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia)

  • Thierry Mayer

    (Universite de Paris Sud, CEP II, PSE, and CEPR)

Abstract

Free trade in audio-visual services has faced opposition on the grounds that foreign media undermine domestic culture, and ultimately, global diversity. We assess the media-culture link using name frequencies as a measure of tastes. Using a 47-year panel of French birth registries, we first show that names appearing on television shows, movies, or in songs are about five times more popular than other names. Most, but not all, of this relationship arises from endogeneity: song and script writers, as well as performers and their parents, select names that would be popular anyway. Using name attributes, fixed effects, and lagged popularity as controls, our regression results suggest that media affect choices by informing parents of unfamiliar names.

Suggested Citation

  • Anne-Celia Disdier & Keith Head & Thierry Mayer, 2006. "Exposure to foreign media and changes in cultural traits: Evidence from naming patterns in France," Development Working Papers 213, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
  • Handle: RePEc:csl:devewp:213
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    File URL: https://www.dagliano.unimi.it/media/WP2006_213.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Endogenous Tastes; Cultural transmission; Television; Cinema; Popular Music;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • D19 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Other
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

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