Clash of the Titans: Does Internet Use Reduce Television Viewing?

28 Pages Posted: 30 Jul 2009 Last revised: 5 Aug 2014

See all articles by Stan J. Liebowitz

Stan J. Liebowitz

University of Texas at Dallas - School of Management - Department of Finance & Managerial Economics

Alejandro Zentner

The University of Texas at Dallas - Naveen Jindal School of Management

Date Written: July 29, 2009

Abstract

The extent to which the Internet has altered traditional leisure activities has received limited academic study. In this paper we use panel data going back to the beginning of web browsing to examine how the Internet impacts the most important recreation activity of Americans: television viewing. Our results are not consistent with a view that the Internet would have a massive impact on television viewing. Instead, we find that the effect of the Internet on television viewing varies monotonically with the age, reducing it for the youngest American but having no impact on the viewing of the oldest Americans. Even for young individuals, our results suggest that the size of the displacement effect appears to be quite moderate.

Keywords: Television Internet Substitution

JEL Classification: L82

Suggested Citation

Liebowitz, Stan J. and Zentner, Alejandro, Clash of the Titans: Does Internet Use Reduce Television Viewing? (July 29, 2009). Review of Economics and Statistics, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1440920

Stan J. Liebowitz

University of Texas at Dallas - School of Management - Department of Finance & Managerial Economics ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.utdallas.edu/~liebowit/

Alejandro Zentner (Contact Author)

The University of Texas at Dallas - Naveen Jindal School of Management ( email )

P.O. Box 830688
Richardson, TX 75083-0688
United States

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