Economics Research Papers

Macro-level Influences on Suicide

We examine the link between employment status and suicide risk using a panel of US states from 1996 to 2005 with monthly data on suicides, the duration of unemployment spells and the number of job losses associated with mass-layoff events. The use of aggregate data at the monthly level along with the distribution of unemployment duration allows us to separate the effect of job loss from the effect of unemployment duration, an important distinction for policy purposes, especially for the timing of potential interventions. Our results are consistent with unemployment duration being the dominant force in the relationship between job loss and suicide. Nevertheless, mass-layoffs may be powerful localized events where suicide risk increases shortly afterward. Implications for the design of unemployment insurance are discussed.

This paper examines the effect of election outcomes on suicide rates by combining the theory of social integration developed by Durkheim with the models of rational choice used in economics. Theory predicts that states with a greater percentage of residents who supported the losing candidate would tend to exhibit a relative increase in suicide rates. However, being around others who also supported the losing candidate may indicate a greater degree of social integration thereby lowering relative suicide rates. Using fixed-effects regression of state suicide rates from 1981 to 2005 on state election outcomes during presidential elections, we find the latter effect is dominant. States that supported the losing candidate exhibit lower suicide rates relative to states that supported the winning candidate—4.6% lower for males and 5.3% lower for females. Implications for economic interventions after disasters are discussed.

We measure the association between rates of suicide and fertility in the United States using a panel of states from 1981 to 2005. We find a positive relationship between suicide and fertility rates, in contrast to previous empirical work from other countries that has reported a strong negative relationship between fertility and suicide. This suggests that differences in the health-care system and social safety net between the United States and Europe may influence the relationship between childbirth and suicide.

Intergenerational Relationships of Obesity

This research provides estimates of the intergenerational persistence of Body Mass Index (BMI) between women and their children when both are at similar stages of the lifecycle. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and the Young Adults of the NLSY79, associations between the weight status of women and their children are measured when both generations are between the ages of 16 and 24. In the entire sample, the measured intergenerational correlation of BMI is significantly different from zero and equal to 0.35. This result differs by gender with a BMI correlation between female children and their mothers of 0.38, compared to a significantly lower BMI correlation of 0.32 between mothers and their sons. Measures of this relationship across the distribution of BMI using quantile regression and quadrant dependence techniques indicate that the intergenerational persistence of BMI is strongest at higher levels of BMI. Strong dependence across generations is found when categorical outcomes of obesity and overweight are implemented. These results provide evidence of the strong persistence of weight problems across generations which may affect economic mobility within families.

We estimate the influence of child and parental characteristics on the likelihood that a child will become an obese or overweight youth. We use results from these binary-outcome models to test whether it is possible to forecast obesity and overweight among youth. We find that a model using childhood covariates does as well in forecasting youth obesity and overweight as a model using the covariate values contemporaneous with the youth obesity and overweight outcomes. Explanatory variables that significantly influence the likelihood of youth obesity or overweight outcomes include the mother's obesity status and education, the youth's birthweight, and certain demographic features including race, sex, and family size. An unpublished appendix with additional results is available here.

Obesity and Education

This research estimates the influence of adolescent weight status on levels of educational attainment. Prior studies have found a causal role of obesity in other economic outcomes such as income. Given the crucial role of human capital investments for economic success, estimates of the causal influence of weight problems on education accumulation are provided. Models ignoring the potential endogeneity of education and weight status indicate that obese and overweight females obtain less education than their peers while weight problems have no influence on educational attainment for males. Estimates accounting for the endogeneity of weight status indicate that weight problems cause a reduction in the likelihood of high school graduation for males and a reduced likelihood of college attendance for overweight females. Potential mechanisms to explain these relationships and their implication for school-based programs to reduce obesity are discussed.

This research examines whether the influence of obesity in late adolescence on education accumulation has changed over time as rates of obesity have increased substantially over the previous three decades. Previous studies have indicated that obesity has asymmetric consequences between genders on socioeconomic outcomes such as income, wealth and education. The results in this paper allow for comparisons of the influence of obesity on education accumulation as the proportion of adolescents with weight problems varies considerably over time. I utilize data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and the children of women in the NLSY79 to estimate the relationships of interest. I find that women in both generations who were obese in late adolescence are less likely to attend college than their peers with weight levels in the recommended range. As well, obese females are less likely to graduate high school, with a larger effect in the earlier generation when obesity was relatively rare. I do not find any significant relationship between obesity and college attendance or high school graduation for males in either generation. These asymmetric results between genders are consistent with previous evidence that obese women face a wage penalty relative to their non-obese peers, while obese males do not.

The research developed in this paper estimates the role of relative weight status during high school in lifetime educational attainment. This project attempts to discern some of the potential underlying reasons for the differential effect of obesity on educational attainment across genders. I examine the role of relative weight status within one’s high school to consider whether having weight levels at higher points in one’s local distribution of weight is associated with lower levels of education accumulation. I find that females with relatively higher weight levels (compared to other females within their high school) are less likely to attend college than their peers. There appears to be a much weaker relationship between weight status and education accumulation among males. Contrary to previous findings, measures of relative weight status indicate that males with higher BMI levels may be less likely to attend college.

Food Stamp Program Design, Obesity and Food Insecurity

Experimental Economics

This research studies results from two types of Dictator Game experiments involving repetition of play, role switching and outside options. When players switch roles during play, a significantly larger portion of the available surplus is claimed by Dictators and results conform more closely to predictions of self-interested subgame perfection than in previous Dictator Game studies. Outside options are frequently rejected and found not to have consistent significant effects on Dictator play following entry.

Appendices