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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter July 16, 2009

American Idol: Evidence on Same-Race Preferences

  • Jungmin Lee

Abstract

This paper examines whether viewers of the popular television show, American Idol, exhibit racial preferences. We find evidence on same-race preferences among black viewers only: when there are more black contestants in the show, more black viewers are tuned in to watch it. The result is robust after we account for the endogeneity problem regarding the contestants' racial composition, which arises due to the voting mechanism. Our point estimates tell that a 10 percentage point increase in the proportion of black contestants increases viewership ratings for black households by about 1.3 percentage points.

Published Online: 2009-7-16

©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston

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