Happy house: Spousal weight and individual well-being

Andrew Clark and Fabrice Etilé

Journal of Health Economics, 2011, vol. 30, issue 5, 1124-1136

Abstract: We use life satisfaction and Body Mass Index (BMI) information from three waves of the GSOEP to test for social interactions in BMI between spouses. Social interactions require that the cross-partial effect of partner's weight and own weight in the utility function be positive. Using life satisfaction as a utility proxy, semi-parametric regressions show that the correlation between satisfaction and own BMI is initially positive, but turns negative after some threshold. Critically, this latter threshold increases with partner's BMI when the individual is overweight. The negative well-being impact of own BMI is thus lower when the individual's partner is heavier, which is consistent with social contagion effects in weight. However, this relationship may also reflect selection on the marriage market or omitted variables, and it is difficult to think of convincing instruments that would allow causality to be clearly established.

Keywords: Obesity; Subjective well-being; BMI; Social interactions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C14 I12 I3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (46)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Happy House: Spousal Weight and Individual Well-Being (2011)
Working Paper: Happy House: Spousal Weight and Individual Well-Being (2011)
Working Paper: Happy House: Spousal Weight and Individual Well-Being (2010)
Working Paper: Happy House: Spousal Weight and Individual Well-Being (2010)
Working Paper: Happy house: Spousal weight and individual well-being (2010)
Working Paper: Happy house: Spousal weight and individual well-being (2010)
Working Paper: Happy House: Spousal weight and individual well-being (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:30:y:2011:i:5:p:1124-1136

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2011.07.010

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