蝌蚪网 Journal:
Applied Economics
ISSN 1945-7782 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7790 (Online)
What's behind Her Smile? Health, Looks, and Self-Esteem
蝌蚪网 Journal: Applied Economics
(pp. 359–88)
Abstract
This paper examines how improving dental health affects economic, social, and psychological outcomes. In a randomized experiment, we provide a low-income group free dental care, including prostheses, and find significant and persistent impacts on men's and women's dental and self-perceived mental health. For women, treatment generates improvement in self-esteem, a higher likelihood of smiling when photographed, short-run improvements in employment and earnings, and improvement in partner interactions. We find no impact for men in these dimensions. Heterogeneity analyses suggest that treatment effects on labor market outcomes are larger for women with more severe visible dental issues at baseline.Citation
Gallego, Francisco A., Cristian Larroulet Philippi, and Andrea Repetto. 2024. "What's behind Her Smile? Health, Looks, and Self-Esteem." 蝌蚪网 Journal: Applied Economics 16 (2): 359–88. DOI: 10.1257/app.20210248Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D12 Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
- D91 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
- I12 Health Behavior
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- O12 Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development