The Long-Run Effects of Sports Club Vouchers for Primary School Children

Jan Marcus, Thomas Siedler and Nicolas Ziebarth ()

No 1133, SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research from DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)

Abstract: Starting in 2009, the German state of Saxony distributed sports club membership vouchers among all 33,000 third graders in the state. The policy’s objective was to encourage them to develop a long-term habit of exercising. In 2018, we carried out a large register-based survey among several cohorts in Saxony and two neighboring states. Our difference-in-differences estimations show that, even after a decade, awareness of the voucher program was significantly higher in the treatment group. We also find that youth received and redeemed the vouchers. However, we do not find significant short- or long-term effects on sports club membership, physical activity, overweightness, or motor skills.

Keywords: physical activity; voucher; primary school; obesity; habit formation; objective health measures; school health examinations; windfall gains; crowd-out; taxpayer subsidies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H71 I12 I14 I18 I28 I38 Z28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 72 p.
Date: 2021
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea, nep-spo and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Long-Run Effects of Sports Club Vouchers for Primary School Children (2022)
Working Paper: The Long-Run Effects of Sports Club Vouchers for Primary School Children (2021)
Working Paper: The Long-Run Effects of Sports Club Vouchers for Primary School Children (2021)
Working Paper: The Long-Run Effects of Sports Club Vouchers for Primary School Children (2021)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1133

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