Is the Internet a health-preserving factor in Russia?
Abstract
With the growing popularity of the Internet in Russia, it is important to find out how the frequency of Internet use affects people's health and self-preservation behavior. We test the following optimistic hypotheses: other things being equal, relatively frequent Internet use corresponds to better health and less consumption of alcohol and tobacco products. Using data from the last 3 waves (2014, 2016, 2018) of the Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions of the Population (CSLC), we build binary probit models using instrumental variables to determine the impact of the Internet on health and first-difference tobit models to assess the impact of the Internet on the volume of consumption of alcohol and tobacco products. The first group of models demonstrates a significant positive impact of the Internet on health for both genders. In other models, the hypotheses of our analysis are partially confirmed: with an increase in the frequency of Internet use, men smoke and drink less, and prefer low-alcohol beverages more, but in the female sample, the result does not confirm the hypothesis of a positive impact of the Internet on reducing tobacco and alcohol consumption. We believe that this result is explained by both the quality of data and the current stage of women's emancipation in Russia. In addition, unlike for men, for women the Internet is not a substitute for leisure time spent drinking vodka.
Our general conclusion is that in order to preserve and increase the health capital of Russian residents, it is necessary to expand the opportunities for using the Internet.
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References
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