RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Relative Obesity and the Formation of Non-cognitive Abilities During Adolescence<sup>*</sup>
JF Journal of Human Resources
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 1018-9812R2
DO 10.3368/jhr.58.2.1018-9812R2
A1 Huang, Wei
A1 Liu, Elaine M.
A1 Zuppann, C. Andrew
YR 2020
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2020/11/04/jhr.58.2.1018-9812R2.abstract
AB We study the role of relative childhood and adolescent obesity in the development of non- cognitive abilities. We employ a novel identification strategy, utilizing the fact that one’s body size is a relative concept and there are large variations in body sizes across MSAs. We focus on children who move between MSAs. Controlling for origin-destination state pair fixed effects, we find that a 10 percentile point increase in relative body size would increase behavioral problems by 2 percentile points. This effect is of a similar magnitude to a two-year reduction in maternal education.