Sports for the Rich? (Empirical Investigation of Participation in Sport in Russia)

Abstract

Physical inactivity is an important factor contributing to overweight and obesity in Russia and worldwide. The involvement in sports produces significant benefits in terms of better health and quality of life, making it an important research question. This paper aims to evaluate how income is associated with participation in sport and paying for sport among Russian adolescents. We do not study all sport expenditures (such as expenditures on sport clothes and equipment) but focus only on probability on paying for doing sport. We use the cross-section data from a survey on health behavior undertaken by the Levada-Center in November 2011. We use probit and heckprobit regressions to estimate the social and economic determinants of participation in sports (selection equation) and probability of paying for it (main equation). Our findings show that income is strongly associated with participation in sport but not with paying for sport. We also find that available at work/university sports infrastructure is among most important factors positively associated with involvement in sports. Males are more likely to participate in sport, but females are more inclined to pay for it (if choose participation in sport). High education and better health status are associated with higher probability of sport participation, while having children seem to be negatively associated with sport. Other significant factors are age, place of residence, beliefs about healthy lifestyle.