ERIC Number: EJ746483
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004
Pages: 24
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-166X
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Impact of Obesity on Wages
Cawley, John
Journal of Human Resources, v39 n2 p451-474 Spr 2004
Previous studies of the relationship between body weight and wages have found mixed results. This paper uses a larger data set and several regression strategies in an attempt to generate more consistent estimates of the effect of weight on wages. Differences across gender, race, and ethnicity are explored. This paper finds that weight lowers wages for white females; OLS estimates indicate that a difference in weight of two standard deviations (roughly 65 pounds) is associated with a difference in wages of 9 percent. In absolute value, this is equivalent to the wage effect of roughly one and a half years of education or three years of work experience. Negative correlations between weight and wages observed for other gender-ethnic groups appear to be due to unobserved heterogeneity.
Descriptors: Obesity, Wages, Correlation, Regression (Statistics), Gender Differences, Racial Differences, Ethnicity, Whites, Females, Employment Experience
University of Wisconsin Press. 1930 Monroe Street, Madison, WI 53711-2059. Tel: 608-263-0668; Fax: 608-263-1173; e-mail: journals@uwpress.wisc.edu; Web site: http://www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/journals.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A