Obesity and Household Financial Distress
Critical Finance Review, Forthcoming
78 Pages Posted: 19 Mar 2011 Last revised: 25 Oct 2014
Date Written: October 14, 2014
Abstract
Obesity provides a potentially informative signal about individuals' choices and preferences. Using NLSY survey data, we estimate that debt delinquency is 20 percent higher among the obese than the non-obese after controlling for an extensive set of financial and economic credit risk factors. The economic significance of obesity for delinquencies is comparable to that of job displacements. Obesity is particularly informative about delinquencies among those with low credit risk. In terms of channels, we find that the conditional obesity effect is partially mediated through health, but is not attributable to individuals' attitudes, time and risk preferences, or cognitive skills.
Keywords: obesity, default, delinquency, bankruptcy, financial distress, personal finance, household finance, consumer credit
JEL Classification: D12, D14, D91, G00, G19, I19
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
By Daniel S. Hamermesh and Jeff Biddle
-
The Effect of Adolescent Experience on Labor Market Outcomes: The Case of Height
By Nicola G. Persico, Andrew Postlewaite, ...
-
The Effect of Adolescent Experience on Labor Market Outcomes: The Case of Height
By Nicola G. Persico, Andrew Postlewaite, ...
-
The Effect of Adolescent Experience on Labor Market Outcomes: The Case of Height
By Nicola G. Persico, Andrew Postlewaite, ...
-
The Effect of Adolescent Experience on Labor Market Outcomes: The Case of Height, Third Version
By Nicola G. Persico, Andrew Postlewaite, ...
-
Stature and Status: Height, Ability, and Labor Market Outcomes
By Anne Case and Christina H. Paxson
-
Beauty, Productivity and Discrimination: Lawyers' Looks and Lucre
By Jeff Biddle and Daniel S. Hamermesh
-
The Returns to Increasing Body Weight
By Jere Behrman and Mark R. Rosenzweig
-
By William T. Harbaugh, Kate Krause, ...