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Exposure to Foreign Media and Changes in Cultural Traits: Evidence from Naming Patterns in France

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Listed:
  • Mayer, Thierry
  • Disdier, Anne-Célia
  • Head, Keith

Abstract

Free trade in audio-visual services has faced opposition on the grounds that foreign media undermine domestic culture, and ultimately, global diversity. We assess the media-culture link using name frequencies as a measure of tastes. Using a 47-year panel of French birth registries, we first show that names appearing on television shows, movies, or in songs are about five times more popular than other names. Most, but not all, of this relationship arises from endogeneity: song and script writers, as well as performers and their parents, select names that would be popular anyways. Using name attributes, fixed effects, and lagged popularity as controls, our regression results suggest that media affect choices by informing parents of unfamiliar names.

Suggested Citation

  • Mayer, Thierry & Disdier, Anne-Célia & Head, Keith, 2006. "Exposure to Foreign Media and Changes in Cultural Traits: Evidence from Naming Patterns in France," CEPR Discussion Papers 5674, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5674
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Endogenous tastes; Cultural transmission; Television; Cinema; Popular music;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D19 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Other
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

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