Room: Phillips 101
Time: Tue 10:15 AM-11:45 AM

Risky Behavior 1

Chair: Ram Shrestha

Session Description

This session includes three empirical papers which explore the complex relationships around risky behavior. The first paper examines the effect of overweight on sexual behavior or adolescent girls using data from Add-Health. The second paper, featuring an economics graduate student, estimates whether individuals with mental illness engage in “retail therapy.” The third paper focuses on youth disciplinary problems in school and whether school suspension policies give students greater opportunity to engage in delinquent acts. Each paper uses a different lens from which to examine a range of risky behaviors. By employing identification strategies that target causal relationships, this session will provide new information about the complexities of risky behaviors and policies to address them.

Key Terms None

Session Organizer: Alison Cuellar (George Mason University)

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Presentations

1. Effects of Overweight on Sexual Behavior of Adolescent Girls

   Presenter: Susan Averett (Lafayette College)

   Discussant: Asia Sikora (Cornell University)

2. The Effect of Mental Illness on Household Spending Behavior

   Presenter: Angela Fertig (University of Georgia)

   Discussant: Pinka Chatterji (University at Albany)

3. Does school expulsion policy contribute to greater youth delinquency?

   Presenter: Alison Cuellar (George Mason University)

   Discussant: Michael French (University of Miami)