Healthy Lifestyle and Individual Time Preferences of Russians

This paper is devoted to analysis of factors that influence a healthy lifestyle of Russians. Along with such factors as age, marital status, size of a household, income, educational level, self-rated health, etc. we consider a rate of time preferences. This rate shows individual ability to postpone utility from consumption to the future. The study is based on the survey conducted by the Yuri Levada Analytical Center in 2011. We construct a representative sample of the adult population of Russia. The basic model for econometric analysis is an ordered probit model. Findings suggest that the rate of time preferences positively influences a healthy lifestyle of Russians.