The effects of competition outcomes on health: Evidence from the lifespans of U.S. Olympic medalists
利用美国奥运奖牌获得者的寿命和奖牌颜色作为自然实验，发现银牌得主比金牌和铜牌得主寿命短约2.4和3.9年，表明不满意的竞争结果可能对健康产生不利影响。
This paper investigates the effects of competition outcomes on health by using U.S. Olympic medalists' lifespans and medal colors as a natural experiment. Whereas the life expectancies of gold and bronze medalists do not differ significantly, life expectancy of silver medalists is about 2.4 and 3.9 years less than these former, respectively. These findings are readily explainable by insights from behavioral economics, psychology, and human biology, which suggest that (perceived) dissatisfactory competition outcomes may adversely affect health. Competition outcomes that affect socioeconomic status (SES) could, therefore, play an important causal role in the positive SES-health gradient among the general population.