Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/111524 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 9076
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Broadband (high-speed) internet access expanded rapidly from 1999 to 2007. This expansion is associated with higher economic growth and labor market activity. In this paper, we examine whether the rollout also affected the social connections teens make. Specifically, we look at the relationship between increased broadband access and teen fertility. We hypothesize that increasing access to high-speed internet can influence fertility decisions by changing the size of the market as well as increasing the information available to participants in the market. We seek to understand both the overall effect of broadband internet on teen fertility as well as the mechanisms underlying this effect. Our results suggest that increased broadband access explains at least thirteen percent of the decline in the teen birth rate between 1999 and 2007. Although we focus on social markets, this work contributes more broadly to an understanding of how new technology interacts with existing markets.
Subjects: 
fertility
birth rates
broadband
new media
JEL: 
J13
J18
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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