Sex and “the City”: Financial stress and online pornography consumption

Abstract We examine the effects of financial stress on online pornography consumption. We use novel data on daily accesses to one of the most popular porn website ( xHamster ) for 43 different cities belonging to 10 countries for the year 2016. In financial cities, in which people are more likely to be affected by financial stress, we observe that on average online porn viewing decreases as financial stress increases. We present some evidence suggesting the causing channel to be altered mood.