Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/107466 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 8679
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Substitutes for marital sexual gratification may impact the decision to marry. Proliferation of the Internet has made pornography an increasingly low-cost substitute. We investigate the effect of Internet usage, and of pornography consumption specifically, on the marital status of young men. We show that increased Internet usage is negatively associated with marriage formation. Pornography consumption specifically has an even stronger effect. Instrumental variables and a number of robustness checks suggest that the effect is causal.
Subjects: 
pornography
divorce
marital formation
JEL: 
J12
O33
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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