TY - JOUR

T1 - The causal effect of education on body mass

T2 - evidence from Europe

AU - Brunello, Giorgio

AU - Fabbri, Daniele

AU - Fort, Margherita

PY - 2013/1

Y1 - 2013/1

N2 - We adopt a multi-country setup to show that years of schooling have a causal protective effect on the body mass index of females living in nine European countries. No such effect is found for males. The protective effect for European females is not negligible but is smaller than one recently found for the United States and stronger among overweight females. We discuss possible mechanisms justifying both the protective role of education and the gender difference in this role. We argue that the effects of additional schooling on income, the probability of employment, and the frequency of vigorous physical activities, both on and off the job, may help explain our results.

AB - We adopt a multi-country setup to show that years of schooling have a causal protective effect on the body mass index of females living in nine European countries. No such effect is found for males. The protective effect for European females is not negligible but is smaller than one recently found for the United States and stronger among overweight females. We discuss possible mechanisms justifying both the protective role of education and the gender difference in this role. We argue that the effects of additional schooling on income, the probability of employment, and the frequency of vigorous physical activities, both on and off the job, may help explain our results.

U2 - 10.1086/667236

DO - 10.1086/667236

M3 - Journal article

VL - 31

SP - 195

EP - 223

JO - Journal of Labor Economics

JF - Journal of Labor Economics

SN - 0734-306X

IS - 1

ER -