TV Channels, Self Control and Happiness
Christine Benesch (),
Bruno Frey and
Alois Stutzer
No 301, IEW - Working Papers from Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich
Abstract:
In many countries, TV viewers have access to more and more TV channels. We study whether people can cope with this and watch the amount of TV they find optimal for themselves or whether they are prone to over-consumption. We find that heavy TV viewers do not benefit, but instead report lower life satisfaction when exposed to more TV channels. This finding runs counter to the standard economic prediction that a larger choice set does not make people worse off. It suggests that an identifiable group of persons experience a self-control problem when it comes to TV viewing.
Keywords: Self-control; over-consumption; life satisfaction; experienced utility; TV viewing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 D91 I31 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006-07
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)
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https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/52257/1/iewwp301.pdf (application/pdf)
Related works:
Journal Article: TV Channels, Self-Control and Happiness (2010)
Working Paper: TV Channels, Self Control and Happiness (2006)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zur:iewwpx:301
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