Working Paper: NBER ID: w29935
Authors: Ashlesha Datar; Nancy Nicosia; Anya Samek
Abstract: We leverage a natural experiment in combination with data on adolescents’ time preferences to assess whether there is heterogeneity in place effects on adolescent obesity. We exploit the plausibly exogenous assignment of military servicemembers, and consequently their children, to different installations to identify place effects. Adolescents’ time preferences are measured by a validated survey scale. Using the obesity rate in the assigned installation county as a summary measure of its obesity-related environments, we show that exposure to counties with higher obesity rates increases the likelihood of obesity among less patient adolescents but not among their more patient counterparts.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: I10; J13; R23
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| County obesity rate (Y10) | Adolescent obesity (J13) |
| County obesity rate (Y10) | Adolescent obesity (less patient) (I19) |
| County obesity rate (Y10) | Adolescent obesity (more patient) (I10) |
| Time preferences (D11) | Adolescent obesity (J13) |
| Adolescent obesity (less patient) (I19) | Adolescent obesity (J13) |
| Adolescent obesity (more patient) (I10) | Adolescent obesity (J13) |