Working Paper: NBER ID: w9468
Authors: Christopher J. Ruhm
Abstract: Using microdata for adults from the 1987-2000 years of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, I show that smoking and height-adjusted weight decline during temporary economic downturns while leisure-time physical activity rises. The drop in tobacco use occurs disproportionately among heavy smokers, the fall in body weight among the severely obese, and the increase in exercise among those who were completely inactive. Declining work hours may provide one reason why behaviors become healthier when the economy weakens, possibly by increasing the non-market time available for lifestyle investments. Conversely, there is little evidence that reductions in income play an important role. The overall conclusion is that changes in behaviors supply one mechanism for the procyclical variation in mortality and morbidity observed in recent research.
Keywords: health; economic downturns; smoking; obesity; physical activity
JEL Codes: E32; I12; J20
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Economic downturns (E32) | Smoking rates (Y10) |
| Economic downturns (E32) | Height-adjusted weight (I14) |
| Economic downturns (E32) | Leisure-time physical activity (J22) |
| Reduced work hours (J22) | Nonmarket time (R33) |
| Nonmarket time (R33) | Healthier lifestyles (I12) |
| Reduced employment-related stress (J29) | Self-medication behaviors (I12) |
| Unemployment (J64) | Total death rate (J11) |