Worth Your Weight: Experimental Evidence on the Benefits of Obesity in Low-Income Countries

Macchi, Elisa. 2023. “Worth Your Weight: Experimental Evidence on the Benefits of Obesity in Low-Income Countries." American Economic Review, 113 (9): 2287-2322. (DOI: 10.1257/aer.20211879)

Abstract

I study the economic value of obesity—a status symbol in poor countries associated with raised health risks. Randomizing decision-makers in Kampala, Uganda to view weight-manipulated portraits, I find that obesity is perceived as a reliable signal of wealth but not of beauty or health. Thus, leveraging a real-stakes experiment involving professional loan officers, I show that being obese facilitates access to credit. The large obesity premium, comparable to raising borrower self-reported earnings by over 60 percent, is driven by asymmetric information and drops significantly when providing more financial information. Notably, obesity benefits and wealth-signaling value are commonly overestimated, suggesting market distortions.

The Power of Certainty: Experimental Evidence on the Effective Design of Free Tuition Programs

Burland, Elizabeth, Susan Dynarski, Katherine Michelmore, Stephanie Owen, and Shwetha Raghuraman. 2023. “The Power of Certainty: Experimental Evidence on the Effective Design of Free Tuition Programs." American Economic Review: Insights, 5 (3): 293-310.

Abstract

Proposed “free college" policies vary widely in design. The simplest set tuition to zero for everyone. More targeted approaches limit free tuition to those who demonstrate need through an application process. We experimentally test the effects of these two models on the schooling decisions of low-income students. An unconditional free tuition offer from a large public university substantially increases application and enrollment rates. A free tuition offer contingent on proof of need has a much smaller effect on application and none on enrollment. These results are consistent with students placing a high value on financial certainty when making schooling decisions.

 

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