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Title: Obesity and the Marriage Market How Increased Male Incarceration Rates Affect Female Weight Gain

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2009

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Abstract: A causal relationship between black male incarceration rates and black female obesity is possible through mechanisms of the marriage market. I argue that as the black male incarceration rate increases, the marriage market tightens, and black females gain incentive to lose weight. The opposite relationship may also be true: a more one-sided marriage market may reduce the gains from weight loss, in turn decreasing the incentive for women to control their weight. For single low-educated black females (perhaps those most inclined to marry crime- oriented males), empirical evidence shows that an increase in the black male incarceration rate significantly reduces the prevalence of their obesity.

Url: http://economics.wustl.edu/files/economics/imce/hoelzer_thesis.pdf

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Hoelzer, Kathryn

Publisher: Washington University in St. Louis

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Family and Marriage, Health

Countries: United States