Economic preferences and obesity: Evidence from a clinical lab‐in‐field study
研究对299名肥胖患者进行6个月随机对照试验，发现其风险厌恶、无现时偏倚，且不耐烦程度与健康样本相当；风险容忍度与女性肥胖指标负相关，不耐烦调节了风险容忍度与肥胖的关系。
Many studies which describe the relationship between obesity and economic preference rely on healthy, clinically-irrelevant populations. Instead, we study economic decision-making of a clinically-relevant population of 299 people with obesity who participated in a 6-months Randomized Controlled Trial in two Sydney-based hospitals to prevent diabetes onset. To elicit preferences, we use incentive-compatible experimental tasks that participants completed during their medical screening examination. In this population, we find that participants are risk averse, show no evidence of present bias, and have impatience levels comparable to healthy samples described in the international literature. Variations in present bias and impatience are not significantly associated with variations in markers of obesity. We find however a statistically significant negative association between risk tolerance and markers of obesity for women. Importantly, impatience moderates the link between risk tolerance and obesity, a finding which we are able to replicate in nationally-representative survey data. We discuss explanations for why our findings deviate markedly from the literature for this understudied but highly policy-relevant population. One explanation is that our specific population consists of forward-looking, well-educated individuals, who are willing to participate in an intensive health intervention. Hence, other factors may be at play for why these individuals live with obesity.