If you don’t snooze you lose health and gain weight : evidence from a regression discontinuity design
Additional information
Authors
Giuntella O.
Type
Working paper
Year
2016
Language
Italian
Abstract
Most economic models consider sleeping as a pre-determined and homogeneous constraint
on individuals’ time allocation neglecting its potential effects on health and human capital.
Several medical studies provide evidence of important associations between sleep
deprivation and health outcomes suggesting a large impact on health care systems and
individual productivity. Yet, there is little causal analysis of the effects of sleep duration. This
paper uses a spatial regression discontinuity design to identify the effects of sleep on health
status, weight, and cognitive abilities. Our results suggest that delaying morning work
schedules and school start times may have non-negligible effects on health.
Number
2015/05
Series
IZA DP No. 9773
Keywords
Health, Obesity, Sleep Deprivation, Time Use, Regression Discontinuity
