Health behaviors, health knowledge and economic well-being.

Abstract

Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this dissertation explores interactions between health behaviors and economic well-being and health knowledge. The first two chapters analyze the interaction between certain health behaviors and such indicators of economic well-being as wages and non-collateralized debt. Thus, chapter 1, Life Smoking Histories and Wages, examines the relationship between smoking behavior and wages. Analysis reveals that smoking is associated with an estimated wage gap of 4-11 percent. The wage gap between smokers and non-smokers is largely driven by persistent smokers and is likely to be explained by non-causal explanations such as a common factor associated with differences in preferences and/or behaviors that both reduce wages and lead to smoking. Chapter 2, Your Money or Your Life: Managing Health, Managing Money, reveals that various health behaviors, such as persistent smoking, obesity, and lack of regular exercising, are related to non-collateralized debt. Moreover, these relationships are robust with respect to income, wealth, age and various health conditions. Chapter 3, Obesity and Nutritional Knowledge, examines the relationship between obesity and nutritional knowledge. Analysis shows that nutritional knowledge could be either preventive or reactive to obesity. On the preventive side, more nutritional knowledge is related to a lower probability of being obese or overweight. On the reactive side, being obese or overweight appears to induce greater nutritional knowledge.