Imitative Obesity and Relative Utility
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. (JEL: D1, I12, I31) (c) 2009 by the European Economic Association.Download Info
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Article provided by MIT Press in its journal Journal of the European Economic Association.
Volume (Year): 7 (2009)
Issue (Month): 2-3 (04-05)
Pages: 528-538
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Related research
Keywords:Other versions of this item:
- 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.
- Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J. & Van Landeghem, Bert, 2009. "Imitative Obesity and Relative Utility," IZA Discussion Papers 4010, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Blanchflower, D.G. & Oswald, A.J. & Van Landeghem, Bert, 2008. "Imitative obesity and relative utility," Open Access publications from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven urn:hdl:123456789/223710, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
- D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
- I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Production
- I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - General Welfare
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