Abstract：
We use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to investigate whether the quality of tertiary education -measured by college selectivity-causally affects obesity prevalence in the medium run (by age 24-34) and in the longer run (about 10 years later). We use partial identification methods, which allow us, while relying on weak assumptions, to overcome the potential endogeneity of college selectivity as well as the potential violation of the stable unit treatment value assumption due to students interacting with each other, and to obtain informative identification regions for the average treatment effect of college selectivity on obesity. We find that attending a more selective college causally reduces obesity, both in the medium and in the longer run. We provide evidence that the mechanisms through which the impact of college selectivity on obesity operates include an increase in income, a reduction in physical inactivity and in the consumption of fast food and sweetened drinks.
摘要：
我们使用来自全国青少年与成人健康纵向研究的数据来调查高等教育质量-通过大学选择性来衡量-是否会影响中等年龄（24-34岁）和长期（大约10年后）的肥胖患病率。我们使用部分识别方法，这让我们，虽然依赖于薄弱的假设，为了克服大学选择性的潜在内生性以及由于学生之间的相互作用而导致的对稳定单位治疗价值假设的潜在违反,并获得大学选择性对肥胖的平均治疗效果的信息识别区域。我们发现，上一所更具选择性的大学会减少肥胖，无论是在中期还是从长远来看。我们提供的证据表明，大学选择性对肥胖的影响的机制包括收入的增加，减少身体活动以及快餐和甜味饮料的消费。
