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Associate Professor
She is an Associate Professor of Quantitative Sociology in the Department of Social Science at UCL. She studies the transition to adulthood, including determinants and consequences of different life course trajectories. She investigates how different ...
2017 - n° 108 28/05/2020
There is a growing concern that the widespread use of computers, mobile phones and other digital devices before bedtime disrupts our sleep with detrimental effects on our health and cognitive performance. High-speed Internet promotes the use of electronic devices, video games and Internet addiction (e.g., online games and cyberloafing). Exposure to artificial light from tablets and PCs can alterate individuals’ sleep patterns. However, there is little empirical evidence on the causal relationship between technology use near bedtime and sleep. This paper studies the causal effects of access to high-speed Internet on sleep. We first show that playing video games, using PC or smartphones, watching TV or movies are correlated with shorter sleep duration. Second, we exploit historical differences in pre-existing telephone infrastructure that affected the deployment of high-speed Internet across Germany (see Falck et al., 2014) to identify a source of plausibly exogenous variation in access to Broadband. Using this instrumental variable strategy, we find that DSL access reduces sleep duration and sleep satisfaction.
Francesco Billari, Osea Giuntella, Luca Stella.
Keywords: Internet,Sleep Duration,Time use
His main research interests are in public, behavioural and experimental economics, dealing with issues such as motivation for charitable giving, discrimination in public services, attitudes towards privacy, consumers’ inertia, determinants of car acc ...
Full Professor
David Stuckler is a Full Professor in the department of Social and Political Sciences.
Alberto Zanardi is currently a member of the Board of the Italian Parliamentary Budget Office. He is full professor in Public Finance at the University of Bologna (currently on leave). He graduated from Bocconi University and received a M.Sc. in Econ ...