Working Paper: NBER ID: w14104
Authors: John Cawley; John R. Moran; Kosali I. Simon
Abstract: This paper tests whether income affects the body weight and clinical weight classification of elderly Americans using a natural experiment that led otherwise identical retirees to receive significantly different Social Security payments based on their year of birth. We exploit this natural experiment by estimating models of instrumental variables using data from the National Health Interview Surveys. The model estimates rule out even moderate effects of income on weight and on the probability of being underweight or obese, especially for men.
Keywords: income; weight; elderly; social security
JEL Codes: H55; I1; I12; I38; J14; J26
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| income (E25) | weight (I14) |
| income (E25) | BMI (I12) |
| income (E25) | probability of being underweight (C46) |
| income (E25) | probability of being obese (C46) |
| income (E25) | income elasticity of BMI (D12) |
| income (E25) | income elasticity of BMI for men (I12) |