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Dynamic Treatment Effect Analysis of TV Effects on Child Cognitive Development

Author Info

Listed author(s):
  • Fali Huang

    ()

    (School of Economics, Singapore Management University)

  • Myoung-jae Lee

    ()

    (Department of Economics, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea)

Abstract

We investigate whether TV watching at ages 6-7 and 8-9 affects cognitive development measured by math and reading scores at ages 8-9 using a rich childhood longitudinal sample from NLSY79. Dynamic panel data models are estimated to handle the unobserved child-specific factor, endogeneity of TV watching, and dynamic nature of the causal relation. A special emphasis is put on the last aspect where TV watching affects cognitive development which in turn affects the future TV watching. When this feedback occurs, it is not straightforward to identify and estimate the TV effect. We adopt estimation methods available in the biostatistics literature which can deal with the feedback feature; we also apply the standard econometric panel data IV approaches. Overall, for math score at ages 8-9, we find that watching TV for more than two hours per day during ages 6-9 has a negative total effect mostly due to a large negative effect of TV watching at the younger ages 6-7. For reading score, there are evidences that TV watching between 2-4 hours per day has a positive effect whereas the effect is negative outside this range. In both cases, however, the effect magnitudes are economically small.

(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

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File URL: http://econ.korea.ac.kr/~ri/WorkingPapers/w0906.pdf
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Paper provided by Institute of Economic Research, Korea University in its series Discussion Paper Series with number 0906.

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Length: 37 pages
Date of creation: 2009
Handle: RePEc:iek:wpaper:0906
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Keywords: TV watching; treatment effect; panel data; dynamic model with feedback;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
  • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
  • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
  • E60 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - General

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Cited by:

  1. Stefano DellaVigna & Eliana La Ferrara, 2015. "Economic and Social Impacts of the Media," NBER Working Papers 21360, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  2. Agne Suziedelyte, 2012. "Can video games affect children's cognitive and non-cognitive skills?," Discussion Papers 2012-37, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
  3. Ruben Durante & Paolo Pinotti & Andrea Tesei, 2015. "The Political Legacy of Entertainment TV," Sciences Po publications info:hdl:2441/gjf8d7tah8a, Sciences Po.

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