title: The impact of obesity on consumer bankruptcy.
abstract: Over the last two decades, both bankruptcy and obesity rates in the U.S. have seen a steady rise. As obesity is one of the leading causes of medical and morbidity related economic costs, its influence on personal bankruptcy is analyzed in this study. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, we employ a duration model to investigate the relative importance of obesity on the timing of bankruptcy. Even after accounting for possible endogeneity of BMI and controlling for a wide variety of individual and aggregate-level confounding factors, being obese puts one at a greater risk of filing for bankruptcy.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social and Economic Research, College of Business and Public Policy, University of Alaska Anchorage, 3211 Providence Drive, Anchorage, AK 99508-8180, United States. Electronic address: mguettabi@alaska.edu.
authors.forename: Mouhcine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guettabi
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Georgia, 213 Stuckey Building, Griffin, GA, United States. Electronic address: munasib@uga.edu.
authors.forename: Abdul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Munasib
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016361:Bankruptcy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: BMI; Obesity; Personal bankruptcy; Relative risk Cox model; Survival analysis