Does Money Burn Fat? Evidence from a Randomized Experiment

42 Pages Posted: 7 Oct 2012

See all articles by Boris Augurzky

Boris Augurzky

Rhine-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research (RWI-Essen); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Thomas K. Bauer

Rhine-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research (RWI-Essen); University of Bochum - Faculty of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Arndt R. Reichert

World Bank; Rhine-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research (RWI-Essen)

Christoph M. Schmidt

RWI - Leibniz-Insitut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI Essen); Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB); Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Harald Tauchmann

Rhine-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research (RWI-Essen)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Abstract

We test whether financial incentives have an effect on weight reduction in a randomized controlled trial involving 700 obese persons assigned to three experimental groups. While two treatment groups obtain €150 and €300, respectively, for achieving an individually assigned target weight within four months, a control group receives no such premium. The results indicate that the weight losses for the treatment groups are 2.6 and 2.9 percentage points higher than that achieved by the control group, raising the average total weight loss for the incentivized groups to 5 percent of the initial weight. This percentage is typically regarded as a threshold to improve the health status of the obese. Further evidence indeed indicates some health improvements. The higher reward causes only the group of obese women to lose more weight. Overall, the results suggest that financial incentives can motivate people to lose weight significantly.

Keywords: randomized experiment, financial incentives for weight loss, obesity, non-random sample attrition, effect heterogeneity

JEL Classification: I10, I18, H23, C93

Suggested Citation

Augurzky, Boris and Bauer, Thomas K. and Reichert, Arndt Rudiger and Schmidt, Christoph M. and Tauchmann, Harald, Does Money Burn Fat? Evidence from a Randomized Experiment. IZA Discussion Paper No. 6888, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2158298 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2158298

Boris Augurzky (Contact Author)

Rhine-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research (RWI-Essen) ( email )

45128 Essen
Germany

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

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

Thomas K. Bauer

Rhine-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research (RWI-Essen) ( email )

Hohenzollernstr. 1-3
Essen, 45128
Germany
+49 201 8149 264 (Phone)
+49 201 8149 284 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.rwi-essen.de

University of Bochum - Faculty of Economics ( email )

Universitätsstraße 150
Gebäude GC, Ebene 3, Raum 58
D-44780 Bochum
Germany
+02 34 32 28341 (Phone)
+02 34 32 14273 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/empwifo/

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany
+49 228 38 94 529 (Phone)
+49 228 38 94 510 (Fax)

Arndt Rudiger Reichert

World Bank ( email )

1818 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Rhine-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research (RWI-Essen) ( email )

Hohenzollernstr. 1-3
Essen, 45128
Germany

Christoph M. Schmidt

RWI - Leibniz-Insitut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI Essen) ( email )

Hohenzollernstraße 1-3
Essen, 45128
Germany
++49 201 8149-227 (Phone)
++49 201 8149-236 (Fax)

Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB)

GC 2/150
Universitätsstr. 150
D-44780 Bochum
Germany

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

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

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Harald Tauchmann

Rhine-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research (RWI-Essen) ( email )

Hohenzollernstr. 1-3
45128 Essen
Germany

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