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Parental beliefs about returns to child health investments

Biroli, Pietro, Boneva, Teodora, Raja, Akash ORCID: 0000-0003-4928-9485 and Rauh, Christopher (2022) Parental beliefs about returns to child health investments. Journal of Econometrics, 231 (1). 33 - 57. ISSN 0304-4076

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Identification Number: 10.1016/j.jeconom.2020.03.018

Abstract

Childhood obesity has adverse health and productivity consequences and it poses negative externalities to health services. To shed light on the role of parents, we elicit parental beliefs about the returns and the persistence of a healthy diet and exercise routine in childhood. Parents believe both types of investments to improve child and adult health outcomes. Consistent with a model of taste formation, parents believe that childhood health behaviors persist into adulthood. We show that perceived returns are predictive of health investments and outcomes, and that less educated parents view the returns to health investments to be lower. Our descriptive evidence suggests that beliefs contribute to the socioeconomic inequality in health outcomes and the intergenerational transmission of obesity.

Item Type: Article
Official URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-e...
Additional Information: © 2020 Elsevier B.V
Divisions: Economics
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics > RJ101 Child Health. Child health services
JEL classification: D - Microeconomics > D1 - Household Behavior and Family Economics > D19 - Other
I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I10 - General
I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I12 - Health Production: Nutrition, Mortality, Morbidity, Suicide, Substance Abuse and Addiction, Disability, and Economic Behavior
Date Deposited: 30 Sep 2020 09:15
Last Modified: 27 Mar 2024 20:45
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/106653

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