Abstract
We use data on 11-15-year-old boys in the West Bank to study the empirical link between cognitive ability and health behavior, specifically (teen) smoking. Adjusting for both age in months and grade level allows us to effectively shut down any simultaneous effect of maturation and schooling on cognitive ability and smoking. We find that those at the lower end of the cognitive ability distribution are more than twice as likely to smoke than those at the upper end (approximately 25 versus 10%) also after adjusting for parental background and peer composition in a generalized propensity score approach. Further, we find that the cognitive ability-smoking gradient is fairly flat at the lower end of the cognitive ability distribution and steep at the upper end.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
