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Income windfalls and overweight: evidence from lottery wins

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  • Costa-Font, Joan
  • Györi, Mario

Abstract

We examine the impact of an income windfall (from lottery win) on an individual's overweight and Body Mass Index (BMI). We use longitudinal data from the United Kingdom, where a large proportion of the population plays the lottery, and retrieve income effect estimates using time and individual specific fixed effects alongside a set of relevant controls. Although our findings suggest any income windfall may lead to a contemporaneous increase in overweight we document evidence that a £1,000 win reduces the probability of overweight in the range by up to 3% points 12 months after the lottery win. Estimates are heterogeneous across working hours and educational attainment. A £1000 lottery win reduces the risk of overweight among low educated individuals by 4.5–5 percentual points (pp)12 months after the lottery win.

Suggested Citation

  • Costa-Font, Joan & Györi, Mario, 2023. "Income windfalls and overweight: evidence from lottery wins," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 116679, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:116679
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    Cited by:

    1. Belloc, Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto & Velilla, Jorge, 2023. "Household Wealth and Body Mass Index: Towards a Healthy Ageing?," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1354, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General

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