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http://hdl.handle.net/10419/35694
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| Title: | | Imitative obesity and relative utility  |
| Authors: | | Blanchflower, David G. Oswald, Andrew J. Van Landeghem, Bert |
| Issue Date: | | 2009 |
| Series/Report no.: | | IZA discussion papers 4010 |
| Abstract: | | If human beings care about their relative weight, a form of imitative obesity can emerge (in which people subconsciously keep up with the weight of the Joneses). Using Eurobarometer data on 29 countries, this paper provides cross-sectional evidence that overweight perceptions and dieting are influenced by a person's relative BMI, and longitudinal evidence from the German Socioeconomic Panel that well-being is influenced by relative BMI. Highly educated people see themselves as fatter - at any given actual weight - than those with low education. These results should be treated cautiously, and fixed-effects estimates are not always well-determined, but there are grounds to take seriously the possibility of socially contagious obesity. |
| Subjects: | | Body mass index BMI comparisons imitation happiness peer effects dieting mental health well-being obesity |
| JEL: | | D1 I12 I31 |
| Persistent Identifier of the first edition: | | urn:nbn:de:101:1-20090304422 |
| Document Type: | | Working Paper |
| Appears in Collections: | | IZA Discussion Papers, Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit (IZA)
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