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On the effect of obesity on employment in the presence of observed and unobserved confounding

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  • Rosalba Radice
  • Luca Zanin
  • Giampiero Marra

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to estimate the effect of obesity on the employment probability for Italian men and women accounting for both observed and unobserved confounding. We use microdata collected by the Italian National Statistical Office for the year 2009 during a multi‐scope survey of Italian households. The employment–obesity relationship is estimated after controlling for observed confounding by using probit regression and a propensity score weighting approach. To control for both observed and unobserved confounding (endogeneity), a semiparametric recursive bivariate probit model is employed instead. Our findings suggest that obesity has a significant negative effect on the employment probability and that endogeneity might not be an important issue.

Suggested Citation

  • Rosalba Radice & Luca Zanin & Giampiero Marra, 2013. "On the effect of obesity on employment in the presence of observed and unobserved confounding," Statistica Neerlandica, Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research, vol. 67(4), pages 436-455, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:stanee:v:67:y:2013:i:4:p:436-455
    DOI: 10.1111/stan.12016
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    Cited by:

    1. Chiara Mussida & Luca Zanin, 2020. "Determinants of the Choice of Job Search Channels by the Unemployed Using a Multivariate Probit Model," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 152(1), pages 369-420, November.
    2. Luca Zanin, 2016. "On Italian Households’ Economic Inadequacy Using Quali-Quantitative Measures," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 59-88, August.
    3. Groves, Jeremy & Wilcox, Virginia, 2023. "The impact of overweight and obesity on unemployment duration among young American workers," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).

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