IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/applec/v52y2020i58p6360-6371.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Peer effects on student weight: randomization evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Yiyang Luo
  • Zheng Pan

Abstract

This paper investigates peer effects on student weight. Taking advantage of a national survey of middle schools in China, we exploit the BMI variation in randomly assigned classrooms. We find that having heavier peer classmates significantly increases a student’s body weight. The results are consistent across various robustness checks based on a standardized measurement of BMI, alternative peer measures, a spurious correlation with height, and the validity of the instruments. Peer effects are more pronounced among female students, nonlocal students, rural students, and students with longer exposure to classmates. The quantile analysis suggests that the peer effect is stronger at the lower end of the BMI distribution. These findings confirm the presence of social multiplier effects in middle schools, which is helpful in establishing health policies for reducing student overweight.

Suggested Citation

  • Yiyang Luo & Zheng Pan, 2020. "Peer effects on student weight: randomization evidence from China," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(58), pages 6360-6371, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:52:y:2020:i:58:p:6360-6371
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2020.1791312
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00036846.2020.1791312
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00036846.2020.1791312?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Hoyong Jung, 2024. "Peer Effects on Self-regulated Study: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Classrooms in South Korea," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 40, pages 349-369.
    2. Li, Li & Zhao, Liqiu, 2022. "Does a “bad apple” spoil the bunch? The impact of low-achieving students on non-cognitive outcomes," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Brandyn F. Churchill, 2024. "State‐mandated school‐based BMI assessments and self‐reported adolescent health behaviors," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(1), pages 63-86, January.
    4. Lao, Yehui, 2023. "The more male classmates, the worse: How male peers harm academic performance of a student," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).

    More about this item

    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:taf:applec:v:52:y:2020:i:58:p:6360-6371. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAEC20 .

    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.