Local Obesity Prevalence and Corporate Policies

Anup Agrawal and Yuree Lim ()
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Anup Agrawal: University of Alabama, Culverhouse College of Commerce, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0224, USA
Yuree Lim: University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, College of Business Administration, La Crosse, WI 54601, USA

Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), 2018, vol. 08, issue 02, 1-33

Abstract: Consistent with prior findings that obese individuals tend to be more risk-averse and myopic, we find that firms located in areas with higher obesity rates invest less, grow more slowly, are less profitable, and have higher stock volatility. We mitigate identification concerns by using an instrumental variables approach, testing for local managers and local shareholders as channels for these effects, and ruling out several alternative explanations, thereby favoring a causal interpretation of our results. Finally, both genetic and environmental factors appear to contribute to these effects. Our findings suggest that physical characteristics of the local population also affect the policies of local firms.

Keywords: Obesity; corporate policies; risk-taking; myopia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1142/S2010139218500076

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