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

Jan Marcus, Thomas Siedler and Nicolas Ziebarth ()

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 128-65

Abstract: Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the twenty-first century. While small-scale experiments change behaviors among adults in the short run, we know little about the effectiveness of large-scale policies or the longer-run impacts. To nudge primary school children into a long-term habit of exercising, the German state of Saxony distributed sports club membership vouchers among all 33,000 third graders in 2009. In 2018, we carried out a register-based survey to evaluate the policy. 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. Apparently, membership vouchers for children are not a strong enough policy tool to overcome barriers to exercise regularly.

JEL-codes: H75 I12 I18 I21 I28 J13 Z21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
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)
Working Paper: The Long-Run Effects of Sports Club Vouchers for Primary School Children (2021)
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DOI: 10.1257/pol.20200431

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