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Is obesity contagious? Social networks vs. environmental factors in the obesity epidemic

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Author Info
Cohen-Cole, Ethan
Fletcher, Jason M.

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Abstract

This note's aim is to investigate the sensitivity of Christakis and Fowler's claim [Christakis, N., Fowler, J., 2007. The spread of obesity in a large social network over 32 years. The New England Journal of Medicine 357, 370-379] that obesity has spread through social networks. It is well known in the economics literature that failure to include contextual effects can lead to spurious inference on "social network effects." We replicate the NEJM results using their specification and a complementary dataset. We find that point estimates of the "social network effect" are reduced and become statistically indistinguishable from zero once standard econometric techniques are implemented. We further note the presence of estimation bias resulting from use of an incorrectly specified dynamic model.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Journal of Health Economics.

Volume (Year): 27 (2008)
Issue (Month): 5 (September)
Pages: 1382-1387
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Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:27:y:2008:i:5:p:1382-1387

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Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505560

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Durlauf, Steven N., 2004. "Neighborhood effects," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 50, pages 2173-2242 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. David Cutler & Edward Glaeser & Jesse Shapiro, 2003. "Why Have Americans Become More Obese?," NBER Working Papers 9446, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Yann Bramoullé & Habiba Djebbari & Bernard Fortin, 2007. "Identification of Peer Effects through Social Networks," Cahiers de recherche 0705, CIRPEE. [Downloadable!]
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  4. Manski, Charles F, 1993. "Identification of Endogenous Social Effects: The Reflection Problem," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 60(3), pages 531-42, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Brian Krauth, 2004. "Simulation-based estimation of peer effects," Econometrics 0408002, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald & Bert Van Landeghem, 2008. "Imitative Obesity and Relative Utility," NBER Working Papers 14337, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Chen, Susan E. & Florax, Raymond J.G.M. & Snyder, Samantha D., 2009. "Obesity in Urban Food Markets: Evidence from Geo-referenced Micro Data," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49512, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. [Downloadable!]
  3. Halliday, Timothy & Kwak, Sally, 2008. "Weight Gain in Adolescents and Their Peers," IZA Discussion Papers 3610, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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