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The Effects of Daughters on Health Choices and Risk Behaviour

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Abstract

Little is known about why some human beings make risky life-choices. This paper provides evidence that people's health decisions and addictive actions are influenced by the gender of their children. Having a daughter leads individuals -- in micro data from Great Britain and the United States -- to reduce their smoking, drinking, and drug-taking. The paper's results are consistent with the hypothesis that human beings 'self-medicate' when under stress.

Suggested Citation

  • N Powdthavee & S Wu & A Oswald, 2010. "The Effects of Daughters on Health Choices and Risk Behaviour," Discussion Papers 10/03, Department of Economics, University of York.
    • Handle: RePEc:yor:yorken:10/03
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eckel, Catherine C. & Grossman, Philip J., 2008. "Differences in the Economic Decisions of Men and Women: Experimental Evidence," Handbook of Experimental Economics Results, in: Charles R. Plott & Vernon L. Smith (ed.), Handbook of Experimental Economics Results, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 57, pages 509-519, Elsevier.
    2. DeCicca, Philip & Kenkel, Don & Mathios, Alan, 2008. "Cigarette taxes and the transition from youth to adult smoking: Smoking initiation, cessation, and participation," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 904-917, July.
    3. Christopher Carpenter & Carlos Dobkin, 2009. "The Effect of Alcohol Consumption on Mortality: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from the Minimum Drinking Age," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 164-182, January.
    4. Thomas Dohmen & Armin Falk & David Huffman & Uwe Sunde, 2012. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Risk and Trust Attitudes," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 79(2), pages 645-677.
    5. Shelly Lundberg & Elaina Rose, 2003. "Child gender and the transition to marriage," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 40(2), pages 333-349, May.
    6. Pham-Kanter, Genevieve, 2010. "The Gender Weight Gap: Sons, Daughters, and Maternal Weight," MPRA Paper 28997, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Why do daughters have a more positive impact on parents than sons?
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2010-04-13 19:29:00
    2. Want to be healthy? Have a Daughter
      by Ariel Goldring in Free Market Mojo on 2010-03-24 13:07:26
    3. Girls... don't want you to have fun: daughters & risk taking
      by Kevin Denny in Geary Behaviour Centre on 2010-03-24 06:43:00
    4. The Effects of Daughters on Health Choices and Risk[y] Behaviour
      by Miguel in Simoleon Sense on 2010-03-25 06:26:14

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Addictive behaviour; gender; daughters; smoking; drinking; attitudes.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health

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    1. Economic Logic blog

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