Is poor fitness contagious?: Evidence from randomly assigned friends

Scott Carrell, Mark Hoekstra and James West

Journal of Public Economics, 2011, vol. 95, issue 7-8, 657-663

Abstract: The increase in obesity over the past 30 years has led researchers to investigate the role of social networks as a contributing factor. However, several challenges make it difficult to demonstrate a causal link between friends' physical fitness and own fitness using observational data. To overcome these problems, we exploit data from a unique setting in which individuals are randomly assigned to peer groups. We find statistically significant positive peer effects that are roughly half as large as the own effect of prior fitness on current fitness. Evidence suggests that the effects are caused primarily by friends who were the least fit, thus supporting the provocative notion that poor physical fitness spreads on a person-to-person basis.

Keywords: Peer; effects; Physical; fitness; Obesity; Social; networks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (60)

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Journal Article: Is poor fitness contagious? (2011)
Working Paper: Is Poor Fitness Contagious? Evidence from Randomly Assigned Friends (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:95:y:2011:i:7-8:p:657-663

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