Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/236277 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 14246
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Starting in 2009, the German state of Saxony distributed sports club membership vouchers among all 33,000 third graders in the state. The policy's objective was to encourage them to develop a long-term habit of exercising. In 2018, we carried out a large register-based survey among several cohorts in Saxony and two neighboring states. Our difference-indifferences estimations show that, even after a decade, awareness of the voucher program was significantly higher in the treatment group. We also find that youth received and redeemed the vouchers. However, we do not find significant short- or long-term effects on sports club membership, physical activity, overweightness, or motor skills.
Subjects: 
physical activity
voucher
primary school
obesity
habit formation
objective health measures
school health examinations
windfall gains
crowd-out
taxpayer subsidies
JEL: 
I12
I14
I18
I28
I38
Z28
H71
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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