Imitative Obesity and Relative Utility

David Blanchflower (), Andrew J. Oswald and Bert G.M. Van Landeghem ()

No 14337, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

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-codes: D01 I12 I31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-upt
Date: 2008-09
Note: HC HE LS
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Working Paper: Imitative Obesity and Relative Utility (2009)
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