The hidden cost of sophistication: economic complexity and obesity

Ronald Djeunankan (), Sosson Tadadjeu (), Henri Njangang () and Ummad Mazhar ()
Additional contact information
Ronald Djeunankan: University of Dschang
Sosson Tadadjeu: University of Dschang
Henri Njangang: University of Dschang
Ummad Mazhar: Lahore Cantt, Lahore University of Management Sciences

The European Journal of Health Economics, 2025, vol. 26, issue 2, No 7, 243-265

Abstract: Abstract Obesity has become a global health crisis, affecting people of all ages, regions, and socio-economic backgrounds. While individual behaviour and genetic factors contribute to obesity, the role of economic complexity in the evolution of obesity rates has not yet been empirically studied. Using a large panel of 110 countries over the period 1976–2015, this article estimates the linear and non-linear links between obesity and economic complexity. According to baseline results, an improvement in economic complexity will lead to an increase in obesity up to a certain threshold. Beyond this turning point, any further increase in economic complexity will significantly contribute to obesity reduction. The issue of simultaneity is tackled using the two-stage instrumental variable method. Our findings support the Obesity Kuznets Curve (OKC) pattern, which suggests that economic progress and obesity have an inverted U-shaped relationship. Our results suggest that greater embeddedness of knowledge in the products produced and exported by a country increases the likelihood of obesity in society, at least up to a threshold. From these results, some important policy implications are discussed.

Keywords: Economic complexity; Obesity; Obesity Kuznets Curve; Panel data; Instrumental variables (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 I12 O11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10198-024-01699-7 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:eujhec:v:26:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10198-024-01699-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... cs/journal/10198/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s10198-024-01699-7

Access Statistics for this article

The European Journal of Health Economics is currently edited by J.-M.G.v.d. Schulenburg

More articles in The European Journal of Health Economics from Springer, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().