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Imitative Obesity and Relative Utility

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Author Info
Blanchflower, David G. () (Dartmouth College)
Oswald, Andrew J. () (University of Warwick)
Van Landeghem, Bert () (Catholic University of Leuven)

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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.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 4010.

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Length: 2009 pages
Date of creation: Feb 2009
Date of revision:
Publication status: published in: Journal of the European Economic Association, 2009, 7(2-3), 528 - 538
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4010

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Related research
Keywords: body mass index BMI; comparisons; imitation; happiness; peer effects; dieting; mental health; well-being; obesity;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
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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References listed on IDEAS
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.:
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    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(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. Andrew E. Clark, 2008. "Happiness, habits and high rank: Comparisons in economic and social life," PSE Working Papers 2008-61, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
  2. Andrew E. Clark, 2009. "Work, jobs and well-being across the Millennium," PSE Working Papers 2009-02, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. 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)
    Other versions:
  4. 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!]
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