Social Economics

21pts.Thiccasthieves.Ab outtenyearsago,therewasalotofmentioninthepressthatyourfriendsmakeyoufat,whichyounowknowisap eereect.ButwasthereanythingtoitReadtheblogp ostathttps://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-your-friends-make-you-fat%E2%80%94the-so cial-network-of-weight-201105242666andanswerthefollowingquestions:(a)3pts.Thesurveyfoundthatheavierp eoplehaveheavierfriends.Isthis,byitself,evidenceofendogenousso cialeects?Explainwhyorwhynotin2-3sentences.(b)9pts.Classifyeachofthethreepathwaysconjecturedasanendogenousso cialeect,exogenous(correlated)eectorcontextualeect.Explaineachanswerin2-3sentences.(c)3pts.Supp oseIwavedamagicwandandmadeyourfriends10lbs.heavier.Basedonthisdescriptionofthestudy,wouldyougainweight?Explainin1-2sentences.(d)6pts.Inlightofyouranswertothepreviousquestion(notyourpersonalpriorbeliefs)doyoundtheinterpretationofthisstudytob ecredible?Commendorcriticizeitin5-6sentences.3.47pts.Growingtogether.Ifyoulo okedatmarriedcouples,youmightthinkthattheirweightsarep ositivelycorrelated,i.e.,overweightp eopletendtocouplewithoverweightp eople,andunderweightp eopletendtocouplewithunderweightp eople.1Let’sexplorethisasso ciationabitfurther.Forparts(a)-(c),youcannotuseanexplanation/pathwaythatwaspresentedinthearticlecitedinproblem2.(a)2pts.Giveoneexplanationforwhycouples’weightsarep ositivelycorrelatedthatisanendogenousso cialeect.(b)2pts.Giveoneexplanationforwhycouples’weightsarep ositivelycorrelatedthatisacorrelatedeect.(c)2pts.Giveoneexplanationforwhycouples’weightsarep ositivelycorrelatedthatisacontextualeect.1Yourobservationisb orneoutinsurveydata.Chen,et.al.(2014)ndacorrelationco ecientof0.24forsp ouses’BMI.1
Nowsupp osethatyouaremarried.Youandyoursp ouseeachweigh100lbs.ondayt1.Yourweightondayt,t+ 1,t+ 2,…evolvesaccordingtothefollowingequationofmotion:YourWeightt=you1YourWeightt1+you1CaloriesYouEatt+you2Sp ouse’sWeightt1+you2CaloriesSp ouseEatst+(1)youTemp eraturetYoursp ouse’sweightevolvessimilarly,butwithdierentco ecients.(Theirco ecientshavesup erscriptssp ouseinsteadofyou,e.g.,sp ouse1.)(a),3pts.Whichparameter(s)corresp ond(s)toendogenousso cialeects?correlatedeects?contextualeects?(Hint:ParametersaretheGreekco ecients.Notallparameterscor-resp ondtooneofthesetyp esofeects!Someeectsmayormaynotb erepresentedbyaparameter!)(b)Supp oseyou1andsp ouse1areb othequaltozero.Assumeyourdietsandthetemp eratureneverchanges.Youranswersshouldb eintermsofoneormoreoftheparameters.i.4pts.Ifyouweighed101lbs.int1insteadof100lbs.,howmuchmorewouldyouandyoursp ouseweighint,t+ 1andt+ 2?(Hint:Writeouttheexpressionsfortheweightsifyouweighed100lbs.andifyouweighed101lbs.andthentakethedierence.You’llseeapatternthatwillsimplifythisandallfuturecalculations.)ii.3pts.Forwhatparametervalueswouldalittlebumpinyourweightmakeitgotoinnityastgetslarge?iii.3pts.Forwhatparametervalueswouldalittlebumpinyourweightmakeyoursp ouse’sweightgotoinnityastgetslarge?(c)Nowsupp oseyou1andsp ouse1arenotequaltozero.Assumeyourdietsandthetemp eratureneverchanges.Youranswersshouldb eintermsofoneormoreoftheparameters.i.4pts.Ifyouweighed101lbs.int1insteadof100lbs.,howmuchmorewouldyouandyoursp ouseweighint,t+ 1andt+ 2?ii.3pts.Forwhatparametervalueswouldalittlebumpinyourweightmakeitgotoinnityastgetslarge?iii.3pts.Forwhatparametervalueswouldalittlebumpinyourweightmakeyoursp ouse’sweightgotoinnityastgetslarge?(d)4pts.Compareyouranswersfrom(b)and(c).Inwhichmo delareyoumorelikelytob ecomeextremelyheavy?Explainin2-3sentences.(e)OK,nowgobacktoassumingthatyouareb oth100lbs.i.4pts.Ifyousneakanextra100caloriecandybarinp erio dt,whathapp enstoyourweightint,t+ 1andt+ 2?ii.4pts.Ifyousneakinganextra100caloriecandybarinp erio dt,whathapp enstoyoursp ouse’sweightint,t+ 1andt+ 2?iii.6pts.Basedontheparameters,whattyp eofp ersonismore/lesshurtbyasecretcandybar?Whattyp eofp ersonismore/lesshurtbytheirsp ousesneakingacandybar?Atyp eofap ersoncouldb ehigh1,low2orsomethinglikethat.YoushouldinterpretwhatthatmeansinEnglishaswell.4.22pts.HowdoIreachthesekids?Youarerunninganafterscho olprogramforkidsacrossallofHouston.Thegoalistoimprovep eople’sviewsofthosewhoaredierentfromthem.2Youhavealargeteamofeagercounselorswhoarewillingtohelpinanywayyouaskthem.In2-5paragraphs,describ ehowyouwoulddesignyourprogram.Thisisanon-exhaustivelistofthingsyoumaywanttoconsider:2Thereisagrowingb o dyofevidencethatsuggestsexp osuretop eopleofdierentraces,ethnicities,incomelevels,andpartisanaliationsimprovestheirviewsofothers,butthisseemstoapplylargelytocloseinteractions.2
Whatkidswouldyoutarget?Howwouldyouallo catekidstocounselors?Smallgroupsorbiggroups?Letkidsformtheirowngroupsorassignthemintogroups?Randomlyordelib erately?Whatkindsofactivitieswouldyoupromote?Wouldyouwantthistob emandatoryorvoluntary?Ago o danswertothisquestionwillusedirectinsightsfromwhatwehavelearnedfromtheMTOprogramandtheotherprogramswestudiedinclass.Whenp ossible,youshouldrefertotheseinsights