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Author: Stoddard, Christiana
Resulting in 3 citations.
1. Silveus, Neil
Stoddard, Christiana
Identifying the Causal Effect of Income on Religiosity Using the Earned Income Tax Credit
Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 178 (October 2020): 903-924.
Also: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268120302924
Cohort(s): NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC); Geocoded Data; Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Religious Influences; State-Level Data/Policy

How do economic conditions--income and the generosity of social insurance--affect religious behavior? This paper provides novel evidence for the United States using variation in Earned Income Tax Credit benefits across states, over time, and by number of children. In the raw data, income and religiosity have a trivial relationship. In contrast, the instrumental variables strategy shows that increases in income from the EITC are found to sizably reduce religious attendance among low-income individuals. Among individuals who attend, the results indicate that an additional $1000 in annual income is associated with a decrease of roughly 1 service per year (as compared to an average of 16 services per year). The effect arises mainly along the intensive margin, decreasing devout behavior and increasing more marginal attendance, but having little impact on whether an individual participates at all or on beliefs. There are also minimal effects on the occurrence and amount of contributions to religious organizations. The results extend our understanding of the determinants of religiosity, the relationship between governmental income support and religious behavior, and the social effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Bibliography Citation
Silveus, Neil and Christiana Stoddard. "Identifying the Causal Effect of Income on Religiosity Using the Earned Income Tax Credit." Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 178 (October 2020): 903-924.
2. Smith, Trenton G.
Stoddard, Christiana
Barnes, Michael G.
Why the Poor Get Fat: Weight Gain and Economic Insecurity
Forum for Health Economics and Policy 12,2 (December 2009): 1-29. Advance on-line publication by Berkeley Electronic Press.
Also: http://www.bepress.com/fhep/12/2/5/
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Berkeley Electronic Press (bpress)
Keyword(s): Income; Income Level; Income Risk; Insurance, Health; Obesity; Poverty; Weight

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Something about being poor makes people fat. Though there are many possible explanations for the income-body weight gradient, we investigate a promising but little-studied hypothesis: that changes in body weight can-at least in part-be explained as an optimal response to economic insecurity. We use data on working-age men from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) to identify the effects of various measures of economic insecurity on weight gain. We find in particular that over the 12-year period between 1988 and 2000, the average man gained about 21 pounds. A one percentage point (0.01) increase in the probability of becoming unemployed causes weight gain over this period to increase by about 0.6 pounds, and each realized 50% drop in annual income results in an increase of about 5 pounds. The mechanism also appears to work in reverse, with health insurance and intrafamily transfers protecting against weight gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Bibliography Citation
Smith, Trenton G., Christiana Stoddard and Michael G. Barnes. "Why the Poor Get Fat: Weight Gain and Economic Insecurity." Forum for Health Economics and Policy 12,2 (December 2009): 1-29. Advance on-line publication by Berkeley Electronic Press.
3. Smith, Trenton G.
Stoddard, Christiana
Barnes, Michael G.
Why the Poor Get Fat: Weight Gain and Economic Insecurity
Working Papers: 2007-16, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University, 2007.
Also: http://www.ses.wsu.edu/PDFFiles/WorkingPapers/Insecurity033007.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University
Keyword(s): Income; Insurance, Health; Obesity; Poverty; Unemployment; Weight; Welfare

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Something about being poor makes people fat. Though there are many possible explanations for the income-body weight gradient, we investigate a promising but little-studied hypothesis: that economic insecurity acts as an independent cause of weight gain. We use data on working age men from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) to identify the effect of various measures of economic insecurity on weight gain. We find in particular that over the 12-year period between 1988 and 2000, a one point (0.01) increase in the probability of becoming unemployed causes weight gain over this period to increase by about one pound, and each realized drop in annual income results in an increase of about 5.5 pounds. The mechanism also appears to work in reverse, with health insurance and government "social safety net" payments leading to smaller weight gains.
Bibliography Citation
Smith, Trenton G., Christiana Stoddard and Michael G. Barnes. "Why the Poor Get Fat: Weight Gain and Economic Insecurity." Working Papers: 2007-16, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University, 2007.