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http://hdl.handle.net/1893/10181| Appears in Collections: | Economics Journal Articles |
| Peer Review Status: | Refereed |
| Title: | Imitative Obesity and Relative Utility |
| Author(s): | Blanchflower, David Van Landeghem, Bert Oswald, Andrew J |
| Contact Email: | david.blanchflower@stir.ac.uk |
| Issue Date: | Apr-2009 |
| Date Deposited: | 21-Nov-2012 |
| Citation: | Blanchflower D, Van Landeghem B & Oswald AJ (2009) Imitative Obesity and Relative Utility. Journal of the European Economic Association, 7 (2/3), pp. 528-538. https://doi.org/10.1162/JEEA.2009.7.2-3.528 |
| Abstract: | If human beings care about their relative weight, a form of imitative obesity can emerge (in which people subconsciously keep up with the weight of the Joneses). Using Eurobarometer data on 29 countries, this paper provides cross-sectional evidence that overweight perceptions and dieting are influenced by a person's relative BMI, and longitudinal evidence from the German Socioeconomic Panel that well-being is influenced by relative BMI. Highly educated people see themselves as fatter -- at any given actual weight -- than those with low education. These results should be treated cautiously, and fixed-effects estimates are not always well determined, but there are grounds to take seriously the possibility of socially contagious obesity. |
| DOI Link: | 10.1162/JEEA.2009.7.2-3.528 |
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