[Brownbag] Paper and Abstract - Demography Brown Bag Seminar October 22: Melissa Kearney

[Monique Verrier]

Sorry everyone, the paper is now attached.

Monique

Monique Verrier
Graduate Student Affairs Officer
University of California, Berkeley
tel: 510.642.9800  fax: 510.643.8558

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 14:00:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: Monique Verrier <monique at demog.berkeley.edu>
To: brownbag at demog.berkeley.edu
Subject: Paper and Abstract - Demography Brown Bag Seminar October 22: Melissa
     Kearney

Dear Brown Bag Community,

Here is the abstract and paper (attached) for Melissa Kearney's presentation, 
"Media Influences in Social Outcomes: The Impact of MTV's '16 and Pregnant' on 
Teen Childbearing," (coauthored by Phillip B. Levine) which will be take place 
on Wednesday, October 22.

Abstract: This paper explores the impact of the introduction of the widely 
viewed MTV show 16 and Pregnant on teen childbearing. The reality TV show 
follows the lives of pregnant teenagers during the final months of their 
pregnancy and early months of motherhood. We match Vital Statistics birth data 
to Nielson television ratings data to investigate whether exposure to the show 
had an impact on teen childbearing rates. 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. We also introduce event study 
methods, utilizing the specific timing of the show’s introduction to identify a 
causal effect. The results of this analysis imply that the introduction of this 
MTV show led to a 5 percent reduction in teen births in the 18 months following 
its initial airing. This accounts for 28 percent of the overall decline in teen 
births in the United States during that period. We supplement these findings 
with an examination of data from Google Trends and Twitter, which suggest that 
this show led to increased interest in contraceptive use and abortion, as 
captured by internet search and tweeting behavior.

Thank you,

Monique


***************************************************************************** 
The Demography Brown Bag Seminars take place usually on Wednesdays from 12:10 
to 1:00, in room 100 of the Demography building, 2232 Piedmont Ave. Please try 
to arrive before 12:10 so we can start promptly at the scheduled time. Regular 
and decaffeinated coffee will be available, as well as cookies and hot water 
for tea. Administrative inquiries may be addressed to the Demography Office at 
642-9800, or monique at demog.berkeley.edu. If you would like to inquire about 
presenting a seminar yourself, or have suggestions for other potential 
speakers, please contact Liz Vasile at evasile at berkeley.edu. Visit our webpage 
for an up-to-date list of future Brown Bag Seminars visit our website at 
http://www.demog.berkeley.edu/announcements/brownbag.shtml Funding partially 
provided by the Berkeley Population Center and The Center for the Economics and 
Demography of Aging (CEDA).



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Monique M. Verrier
Graduate Student Services Adviser
UC Berkeley, Department of Demography
Tel. 510-642-9800  FAX 510-643-8558
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