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Parental Beliefs about Returns to Child Health Investments

Author

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  • Biroli, Pietro

    (University of Bologna)

  • Boneva, Teodora

    (University of Bonn)

  • Raja, Akash

    (London School of Economics)

  • Rauh, Christopher

    (University of Cambridge)

Abstract

Childhood obesity has adverse health and productivity consequences and poses negative externalities to health services. Its increase in recent decades can be traced back to unhealthy habits acquired in the household. We investigate whether parental beliefs play a role by eliciting beliefs about the returns to a recommended-calorie diet and regular exercise using hypothetical investment scenarios. We show that perceived returns are predictive of health investments and outcomes, and that less educated parents perceive the returns to health investments to be lower, thus contributing to the socioeconomic inequality in health outcomes and the intergenerational transmission of obesity.

Suggested Citation

  • Biroli, Pietro & Boneva, Teodora & Raja, Akash & Rauh, Christopher, 2018. "Parental Beliefs about Returns to Child Health Investments," IZA Discussion Papers 11336, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11336
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    equality of opportunity; parental investments; health; beliefs; inequality; obesity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D19 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Other
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality

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