Obesity and Happiness

Katsaiti, Marina Selini

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1551192

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Obesity and Happiness

SOEPpaper No. 270

33 Pages Posted: 12 Feb 2010

See all articles by Marina Selini Katsaiti

Marina Selini Katsaiti

United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) - College of Business and Economics

Date Written: 2010

Abstract

This paper provides insight on the relationship between obesity and happiness. Using the latest available cross sectional data from Germany (GSOEP 2006), UK (BHPS 2005), and Australia (HILDA 2007). We examine whether there is evidence on the impact of overweight on subjective well being. The Hausman test is employed in the univariate and multivariate specifications chosen and reveals evidence for the presence of endogeneity in the German and the Australian data. Instrumental variable analysis is performed under the presence of endogeneity whereas for the UK we run OLS regressions. Results indicate that in all three countries obesity has a negative and significant effect on the subjective well being of individuals. For Germany, using a differences-in-differences methodology, I find that non-overweight/non-obese individuals are on average 0.5 units happier than their overweight/obese counterparts. Our findings also have important implications for the effect of other socio-demographic, economic and individual characteristics on well being.

Keywords: Happiness, Obesity, Instrumental Variable Analysis, Subjective Well Being

JEL Classification: D60, I31

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Katsaiti, Marina Selini, Obesity and Happiness (2010). SOEPpaper No. 270, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1551192 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1551192