Kristjana Baldursdottir, Paul McNamee, Edward C Norton, Tinna Laufey Asgeirsdottir
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
According to the World Health Organization, obesity is one of the greatest public-health challenges of the 21st century. Body weight is also known to affect individuals' self-esteem and interpersonal relationships, including romantic ones. We estimate the "utility-maximizing" Body Mass Index (BMI) and calculate the implied monetary value of changes in both individual and spousal BMI, using the compensating income variation method and data from the Swiss Household Panel. We employ the Oster's method (Oster, 2019) to estimate the degree of omitted variable bias in the effect of BMI on life satisfaction. Results suggest that the optimal own BMI is 27.1 and 20.1 for men and women, respectively. The annual value of reaching optimal weight ranges from $7069 for women with underweight to $88,709 for women with obesity and between $95,165 for men with underweight to $32,644 for men with obesity. On average, women value reduction in their own BMI about four times higher than reduction in their spouse's BMI. Men, on the other hand, value a reduction in their spouse's BMI almost twice as much compared to a reduction in their own BMI. This highlights important gender differences and relative effects based on spousal BMI.
期刊介绍：
The Review of Economics of the Household publishes high-quality empirical and theoretical research on the economic behavior and decision-making processes of single and multi-person households. The Review is not wedded to any particular models or methods. It welcomes both macro-economic and micro-level applications. Household decisions analyzed in this journal include · household production of human capital, health, nutrition/food, childcare, and eldercare, · well-being of persons living in households, issues of gender and power, · fertility and risky behaviors, · consumption, savings and wealth accumulation, · labor force participation and time use,· household formation (including marriage, cohabitation and fertility) and dissolution,· migration, intergenerational transfers,· experiments involving households,· religiosity and civility.The journal is particularly interested in policy-relevant economic analyses and equally interested in applications to countries at various levels of economic development. The Perspectives section covers articles on the history of economic thought and review articles. Officially cited as: Rev Econ Household
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