Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wvu/wpaper/15-36.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Physical Activity, Present Bias, and Habit Formation: Theory and Evidence From Longitudinal Data

Author

Listed:
  • Brad R. Humphreys

    (West Virginia University, Department of Economics)

  • Jane E. Ruseski

    (West Virginia University, Department of Economics)

  • Li Zhou

    (University of Alberta, Department of Economics)

Abstract
We investigate temporal decisions to participate in exercise in a dynamic model featuring present bias and habit formation. The model highlights naivete about present bias and projection bias about habit formation/decay and implies that promoting participation in physical activity must both encourage the inactive to start and discourage the active from quitting as behavioral biases apply to both. Our empirical analysis using data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) develops evidence consistent with predictions about present bias and habit formation/decay and an interesting asymmetry between starting and quitting that furthers understanding of existing empirical evidence.

Suggested Citation

  • Brad R. Humphreys & Jane E. Ruseski & Li Zhou, 2015. "Physical Activity, Present Bias, and Habit Formation: Theory and Evidence From Longitudinal Data," Working Papers 15-36, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    • Handle: RePEc:wvu:wpaper:15-36
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1166&context=econ_working-papers
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fildes, A. & Charlton, J. & Rudisill, C. & Littlejohns, P. & Prevost, A.T. & Gulliford, M.C., 2015. "Probability of an obese person attaining normal body weight: Cohort study using electronic health records," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105(9), pages 54-59.
    2. Matthew Rabin & Ted O'Donoghue, 1999. "Doing It Now or Later," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(1), pages 103-124, March.
    3. Hanming Fang & Yang Wang, 2015. "Estimating Dynamic Discrete Choice Models With Hyperbolic Discounting, With An Application To Mammography Decisions," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 56(2), pages 565-596, May.
    4. Grignon, Michel, 2009. "An empirical investigation of heterogeneity in time preferences and smoking behaviors," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 739-751, October.
    5. Stephan Meier & Charles Sprenger, 2010. "Present-Biased Preferences and Credit Card Borrowing," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 193-210, January.
    6. Eisenberg Daniel & Okeke Edward, 2009. "Too Cold for a Jog? Weather, Exercise, and Socioeconomic Status," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-32, June.
    7. George Loewenstein & Ted O'Donoghue & Matthew Rabin, 2003. "Projection Bias in Predicting Future Utility," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1209-1248.
    8. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Kassenboehmer, Sonja C. & Schurer, Stefanie, 2014. "Healthy habits: The connection between diet, exercise, and locus of control," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 1-28.
    9. Themis Kokolakakis & Fernando Lera-López & Thanos Panagouleas, 2012. "Analysis of the determinants of sports participation in Spain and England," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(21), pages 2785-2798, July.
    10. Lisa Farrell & Michael A. Shields, 2002. "Investigating the economic and demographic determinants of sporting participation in England," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 165(2), pages 335-348, June.
    11. Gary Charness & Uri Gneezy, 2009. "Incentives to Exercise," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(3), pages 909-931, May.
    12. Garon, Jean-Denis & Masse, Alix & Michaud, Pierre-Carl, 2015. "Health club attendance, expectations and self-control," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 364-374.
    13. Themis Kokolakakis & Fernando Lera-López & Thanos Panagouleas, 2012. "Analysis of the determinants of sports participation in Spain and England," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(21), pages 2785-2798, July.
    14. Cavaco, Sandra & Eriksson, Tor & Skalli, Ali, 2014. "Life cycle development of obesity and its determinants in six European countries," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 14(C), pages 62-78.
    15. David Laibson, 1997. "Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(2), pages 443-478.
    16. Stefano DellaVigna & Ulrike Malmendier, 2006. "Paying Not to Go to the Gym," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(3), pages 694-719, June.
    17. Acland, Dan & Levy, Matthew, 2013. "Naivete, projection bias, and habit formation in gym attendance," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 46827, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Burks, Stephen & Carpenter, Jeffrey & Götte, Lorenz & Rustichini, Aldo, 2012. "Which measures of time preference best predict outcomes: Evidence from a large-scale field experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 308-320.
    19. Brown, Heather & Roberts, Jennifer, 2011. "Exercising choice: The economic determinants of physical activity behaviour of an employed population," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(3), pages 383-390, August.
    20. Brad R. Humphreys & Jane E. Ruseski, 2007. "Participation In Physical Activity And Government Spending On Parks And Recreation," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 25(4), pages 538-552, October.
    21. Myong-Il Kang & Shinsuke Ikeda, 2010. "Time Discounting and Smoking Behavior under Tax Hikes," ISER Discussion Paper 0782, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    22. Brad R. Humphreys & Logan McLeod & Jane E. Ruseski, 2014. "Physical Activity And Health Outcomes: Evidence From Canada," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(1), pages 33-54, January.
    23. Paul Downward, 2007. "Exploring the Economic Choice to Participate in Sport: Results from the 2002 General Household Survey," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(5), pages 633-653.
    24. Cavaco, Sandra & Eriksson, Tor & Skalli, Ali, 2011. "Life Cycle Development of Obesity and Its Determinants," Working Papers 11-7, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Department of Economics.
    25. Nana Anokye & Subhash Pokhrel & Martin Buxton & Julia Fox-Rushby, 2012. "The demand for sports and exercise: results from an illustrative survey," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 13(3), pages 277-287, June.
    26. Becker, Gary S & Murphy, Kevin M, 1988. "A Theory of Rational Addiction," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(4), pages 675-700, August.
    27. Humphreys Brad R & Ruseski Jane E, 2011. "An Economic Analysis of Participation and Time Spent in Physical Activity," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 11(1), pages 1-38, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Qi Ge & Brad R. Humphreys & Kun Zhou, 2020. "Are Fair Weather Fans Affected by Weather? Rainfall, Habit Formation, and Live Game Attendance," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 21(3), pages 304-322, April.
    2. Lenzen, Sabrina & Gannon, Brenda & Rose, Christiern, 2020. "A dynamic microeconomic analysis of the impact of physical activity on cognition among older people," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cabane Charlotte & Lechner Michael, 2015. "Physical Activity of Adults: A Survey of Correlates, Determinants, and Effects," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 235(4-5), pages 376-402, August.
    2. Dan Acland & Matthew R. Levy, 2015. "Naiveté, Projection Bias, and Habit Formation in Gym Attendance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(1), pages 146-160, January.
    3. Chen‐Nan Liao & Ying‐Ju Chen, 2021. "Design of Long‐Term Conditional Cash Transfer Program to Encourage Healthy Habits," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(11), pages 3987-4003, November.
    4. Takahiro Miura, 2016. "The association between time preference and smoking behavior: A dynamic panel analysis," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 16-16, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    5. Belot, Michèle & James, Jonathan & Nolen, Patrick, 2016. "Incentives and children's dietary choices: A field experiment in primary schools," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 213-229.
    6. Yong Kang Cheah & Mohd Azahadi & Siew Nooi Phang & Noor Hazilah, 2017. "The Income and Demographic Determinants of Physical Activity Intensity: Evidence from a Developing Country," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 11(3), pages 348-364, August.
    7. Garon, Jean-Denis & Masse, Alix & Michaud, Pierre-Carl, 2015. "Health club attendance, expectations and self-control," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 364-374.
    8. Diarmaid Ó Ceallaigh & Kirsten I.M. Rohde & Hans van Kippersluis, 2024. "Skipping your workout, again? Measuring and understanding time inconsistency in physical activity," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 24-028/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    9. Ryota Nakamura & Marc Suhrcke & Daniel John Zizzo, 2017. "A triple test for behavioral economics models and public health policy," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 83(4), pages 513-533, December.
    10. Belot, Michèle & James, Jonathan, 2022. "Incentivizing dietary choices among children: Review of experimental evidence," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    11. Humphreys, Brad & Maresova, Katerina & Ruseski, Jane, 2012. "Institutional Factors, Sport Policy, and Individual Sport Participation: An International Comparison," Working Papers 2012-1, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
    12. Alex Imas & Michael A. Kuhn & Vera Mironova, 2015. "A History of Violence: Field Evidence on Trauma, Discounting and Present Bias," CESifo Working Paper Series 5338, CESifo.
    13. Humphreys Brad R & Ruseski Jane E, 2011. "An Economic Analysis of Participation and Time Spent in Physical Activity," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 11(1), pages 1-38, August.
    14. Joshua C. Hall & Brad R. Humphreys & Jane E. Ruseski, 2018. "Economic Freedom and Exercise: Evidence from State Outcomes," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 84(4), pages 1050-1066, April.
    15. Itzhak Ben-David & Marieke Bos, 2021. "Impulsive Consumption and Financial Well-Being: Evidence from an Increase in the Availability of Alcohol [Identification of causal effects using instrumental variables]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(5), pages 2608-2647.
    16. Frey, Bruno S. & Benesch, Christine & Stutzer, Alois, 2007. "Does watching TV make us happy?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 283-313, June.
    17. Miura, Takahiro, 2019. "Does time preference affect smoking behavior? A dynamic panel analysis," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 170-180.
    18. Muñiz, Cristina & Rodríguez, Plácido & Suárez, María J., 2014. "Sports and cultural habits by gender: An application using count data models," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 288-297.
    19. Kjær, Trine & Højgaard, Betina & Gyrd-Hansen, Dorte, 2019. "Physical exercise versus shorter life expectancy? An investigation into preferences for physical activity using a stated preference approach," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(8), pages 790-796.
    20. Arad, Ayala & Gneezy, Uri & Mograbi, Eli, 2023. "Intermittent incentives to encourage exercising in the long run," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 560-573.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    present-bias; physical activity; habit formation; habit decay; projection bias;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wvu:wpaper:15-36. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Feng Yao (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dewvuus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.