Undereating and Overeating: A Fiscal Measure against a "Contemporary Malaise"

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Index

Abstract ... 9

Introduction ... 11

1. Eating Disorders Through the Veil ... 13

1.1 Historical Excursus ... 13

1.2 Diagnostic Criterions ... 16

1.2.1 Bulimia Nervosa ... 17

1.2.2 Anorexia Nervosa ... 18

1.2.3 Binge Eating Disorder ... 19

1.2.4 Atypical Eating Disorders ... 20

1.2.4.1 Mixed Eating Disorder ... 20

1.2.4.2 Night Eating Syndrome ... 21

1.3 Physical and Psychosocial Effects of Eating Disorders ... 22

1.3.1 Physical Effects of Undereating and Overeating ... 22

1.3.2 Physical Effects of Purging Behaviors ... 23

1.3.3 Psychological and Social Aspects associated with Eating Disorders ... 23

1.4 Causes of Eating Disorders ... 25

1.5 Treatment of Eating Disorders ... 29

2. Facing Eating Disorders from an Economic Perspective ... 31

2.1 Introducing the Model ... 31

2.2 Introducing the Utility Function ... 37

2.3 The Model ... 39

2.4 Making Two Numerical Representations ... 45

2.4.1 First Psychological Profile ... 45

2.4.2 Second Psychological Profile ... 49

2.5 Social Capital and Optimal Consumption Levels ... 53

2.6 Social Capital and Indirect Utility Function ... 57

2.7 The Importance of a Fiscal Measure ... 60

2.8 A Tax Transfer ... 67

Conclusions ... 77

Bibliography ... 80

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List of Figures

Figure 2.1.1a: A model for anorexia and bulimia ... 29

Figure 2.1.1b: A model for advanced bulimia ... 29

Figure 2.1.2: Two-stage binge eating disorder evolutionary model ... 31

Figure 2.4.1: Graphical representations of 𝑐_𝑗∗_{, 𝑐} ℎ∗ and 𝑙∗ for a = 0.15, b = 0.3 and ν = 0.4 ... 45

Figure 2.4.2: Graphical representations of c_j*, c_h* and l*_{for a = 0.3, b = 0.15 and ν = 0.4 ... 49}

Figure 2.5.1a: Pattern of c_j*_{for minimum value of ν ... 53}

Figure 2.5.1b: Pattern of c_j*_{for maximum value of ν ... 53}

Figure 2.5.2a: Pattern of c_h*_{for minimum value of ν... 54}

Figure 2.5.2b: Pattern of c_h*_{for maximum value of ν ... 54}

Figure 2.5.3a: Pattern of l*_{for minimum value of ν ... 55}

Figure 2.5.3b: Pattern of l*_{for maximum value of ν ... 55}

Figure 2.5.4a: Pattern of c_j*_{for minimum value of ν ... 56}

Figure 2.5.4b: Pattern of c_j* for maximum value of ν ... 56

Figure 2.5.5a: Pattern of c_h* for minimum value of ν ... 56

Figure 2.5.5b: Pattern of c_h∗_{for maximum value of ν ... 56}

Figure 2.5.6a: Pattern of 𝑙∗_{for minimum value of ν ... 57}

Figure 2.5.6b: Pattern of l*_{for maximum value of ν ... 57}

Figure 2.6.1a: Pattern of the indirect utility function for the minimum value of ν ... 58

Figure 2.6.1b: Pattern of the indirect utility function for the maximum value of ν ... 58

Figure 2.7.1a: Pattern of c_h∗ for minimum value of ν ... 63

Figure 2.7.1b: Pattern of c_h∗_{for maximum value of ν ... 63}

Figure 2.7.2a: Pattern of c_j∗ for minimum value of ν ... 64

Figure 2.7.2b: Pattern of c_j∗ for maximum value of ν ... 64

Figure 2.7.3a: Pattern of l∗_{for minimum value of ν ... 65}

Figure 2.7.3b: Pattern of l∗_{for maximum value of ν ... 65}

Figure 2.8.1: Trend of 𝜏 for 𝑡 = 0 ... 71

Figure 2.8.2: Trend of τ for t = 1 ... 72

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Figure 2.8.4a: Trend of 𝑐_ℎ∗_{(𝜏) for a minimal value of t ... 74}

Figure 2.8.4b: Trend of c_h*_{(τ) for an intermediate value of t ... 74}

Figure 2.8.4c: Trend of c_h∗(τ) for a maximum value of t ... 74

Figure 2.8.5a: Trend of 𝑐_𝑗∗_{for a minimal value of t ... 74}

Figure 2.8.5b: Trend of c_j* for an intermediate value of t ... 74

Figure 2.8.5c: Trend of c_j∗ for a maximum value of t ... 74

Figure 2.8.6a: Trend of 𝑙∗_{for a minimal value of t ... 74}

Figure 2.8.6b: Trend of l∗_{for an intermediate value of t ... 74}

Figure 2.8.6c: Trend of l∗_{for a maximum value of t ... 74}

Figure 2.8.7a: 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑈 for minimum value of t ... 75

Figure 2.8.7b: indU for maximum value of t ... 75

Figure 2.8.8: indU for t = 0.1 (red) and indU for t = 0.8 (green) ... 76

List of Tables Table 1.4.1: A list of triggering and substantiating causes of eating disorders ... 27

Table 2.1.1: An interpretation of the various evolutionary stages of a binge-eating disorder ... 32

Table 2.1.2: An interpretation of the various parameters characterizing the onset of a binge-eating disorder ... 33