Happy House: Spousal Weight and Individual Well-Being

PSE WORKING PAPER No. 2010-07

32 Pages Posted: 31 Mar 2010

See all articles by Andrew Clark

Andrew Clark

Paris School of Economics (PSE); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Fabrice Etile

Paris School of Economics; INRAE, UMR 1393 PjSE

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: February 10, 2010

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. Semi-parametric regressions show that partner’s BMI is, beyond a certain level, negatively correlated with own satisfaction. Own BMI is positively correlated with satisfaction in thin men, and negatively correlated with satisfaction 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. This is consistent with social contagion effects in weight. However, instrumental variable estimates suggest that the relationship is not causal, but rather reflects selection on the marriage market.

Keywords: Obesity, subjective well-being, BMI, social interactions

JEL Classification: C14, I12, I3

Suggested Citation

Clark, Andrew Eric and Etile, Fabrice, Happy House: Spousal Weight and Individual Well-Being (February 10, 2010). PSE WORKING PAPER No. 2010-07, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1578138 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1578138

Andrew Eric Clark

Paris School of Economics (PSE) ( email )

48 Boulevard Jourdan
Paris, 75014 75014
France

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Fabrice Etile (Contact Author)

Paris School of Economics ( email )

48 bd Jourdan
Paris, 75014
France

INRAE, UMR 1393 PjSE ( email )

ENS, 48, Boulevard Jourdan
Paris, 75014
France

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
75
Abstract Views
909
Rank
341,629
PlumX Metrics