Research

The Effects of Incentives to Exercise on Student Performance in College

Hans Fricke, Michael Lechner and Andreas Steinmayr

Economics of Education Review, 2018, 66: 14–39

Article
Bar chart: weekly gym visits of students in the incentive group and the control group over the 2013 academic year.
Weekly gym visits by treatment group, 2013 cohort (Figure 1, top panel). Fricke, Lechner and Steinmayr (2018), Economics of Education Review, Figure 1.

Abstract

What are the effects of on-campus recreational sports and exercise on educational outcomes of university students? We randomize financial incentives to encourage students’ participation in on-campus sports and exercise in two cohorts of college freshmen. Incentives increased participation frequency by 47% and improved grades by 0.14 standard deviations in the first cohort. The incentives were less effective in promoting participation and did not improve grades in the second cohort. In the first cohort, students primarily substituted off-campus with on-campus physical activities and seemed more able to integrate exercising with studying. The incentives appear to have improved grades by enhancing the effectiveness of studying and encouraging students to spend more time in class.

Cite (BibTeX)
@article{Fricke2018effects,
  author      = {Fricke, Hans and Lechner, Michael and Steinmayr, Andreas},
  title       = {{The Effects of Incentives to Exercise on Student Performance in College}},
  journal     = {Economics of Education Review},
  year        = {2018},
  volume      = {66},
  pages       = {14--39},
  doi         = {10.1016/j.econedurev.2018.06.009}
}

All publications as BibTeX

Earlier versions

  • CEPR Discussion Paper No. 12052 (2017), "The Effect of Physical Activity on Student Performance in College: An Experimental Evaluation"