Climate preferences, obesity, and unobserved heterogeneity in cities

Abstract

Some sources of heterogeneity among cities, i.e. age, gender, race, income, and education, have been the object of substantial inquiry. The reasons are obvious. These differences are easily observed and may have important implications for economic activity. This study considers another potentially important population characteristic, obesity. Descriptive statistics reveal that the intercity variance in obesity rates is substantial. Empirical results demonstrate that demographic and regional amenity variables all help to explain intercity differences in obesity. Because obesity is important for climate preferences, health, and productivity, its omission from previous studies and its correlation with amenity and demographic characteristics could create problems for empirical research.