Department of Economics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
Department of Economics, Wellesley College, MA.
Am Econ Rev. 2015 Dec;105(12):3597-632. doi: 10.1257/aer.20140012.
This paper explores the impact of the introduction of the widely viewed MTV reality show 16 and Pregnant on teen childbearing. Our main analysis relates geographic variation in changes in teen childbearing rates to viewership of the show. We implement an instrumental variables (IV ) strategy using local area MTV ratings data from a pre-period to predict local area 16 and Pregnant ratings. The results imply that this show led to a 4.3 percent reduction in teen births. An examination of Google Trends and Twitter data suggest that the show led to increased interest in contraceptive use and abortion.
本文探讨了广受关注的 MTV 真人秀节目《16 岁当妈妈》对青少年生育的影响。我们的主要分析涉及青少年生育率变化的地理差异与该节目的收视率之间的关系。我们采用工具变量（IV）策略，利用预期间的当地 MTV 收视率数据来预测当地《16 岁当妈妈》的收视率。结果表明，该节目导致青少年生育人数减少了 4.3%。对谷歌趋势和推特数据的研究表明，该节目增加了人们对避孕和堕胎的兴趣。
