Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/220352 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Papers No. 275
Publisher: 
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Courant Research Centre - Poverty, Equity and Growth (CRC-PEG), Göttingen
Abstract: 
This study uses a simple theory model to examine how time preferences influence food choices made by individuals, which in turn have implications for their future health. The theory results demonstrate that individuals with higher bias for the present or lower patience will have poorer health outcomes: that is, they will either be underweight (low BMI) or overweight (high BMI). The pathway from time preferences to BMI is through food. To empirically validate these predictions, we use both the nationallyrepresentative India Human Development Survey (IHDS) to estimate a reduced form equation relating savings (a proxy for time preferences) to BMI; and a primary survey of 885 adults conducted in West Delhi. Using quantile regression and SEM estimation, we provide empirical validation for the theory results; namely that time preferences have significant effect on food choices which in turn has a significant impact on BMI. Thus, such psychometric measures are useful in identifying early on those at potential risk of being overweight or obese later as adults.
Subjects: 
BMI
overweight or obese
underweight
time preferences
time inconsistency
time consistency
present bias
risk and time discounting
JEL: 
I12
I15
I18
D91
C93
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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