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The Wage Effects of Social Norms - Evidence of Deviations from Peers' Body Mass in Europe

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  • Elmar A. Janssen

    (University of Paderborn)

  • Rene Fahr

    (University of Paderborn)

Abstract

We investigate wage effects of deviations from peer group body mass index (BMI) to evaluate the influence of social norms on wages. Our approach allows to show the existence of the influence of the social norm and to disentangle it from any (anticipated) productivity effects associated with deviations from a clinically recommended BMI in certain sections of the weight distribution. Estimates of between-effects models for 9 European countries for the years 1998 to 2001 suggest that the influence of the social norm varies considerably between countries, and wage penalties are rather found for upward deviations from the norm and for men.

Suggested Citation

  • Elmar A. Janssen & Rene Fahr, 2014. "The Wage Effects of Social Norms - Evidence of Deviations from Peers' Body Mass in Europe," Working Papers Dissertations 04, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:pdn:dispap:04
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    Cited by:

    1. E. Feess & Gerd Muehlheusser & M. Walzl, 2008. "Unfair contests," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 93(3), pages 267-291, April.
      • Feess, E. & Muehlheusser, G. & Walzl, M., 2004. "Unfair contests," Research Memorandum 048, Maastricht University, Maastricht Research School of Economics of Technology and Organization (METEOR).
    2. Hübler, Olaf, 2019. "The Role of Body Weight for Health, Earnings and Life Satisfaction," IZA Discussion Papers 12078, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Hübler Olaf, 2020. "The Gender-specific Role of Body Weight for Health, Earnings and Life Satisfaction in Piecewise and Simultaneous Equations Models," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 240(5), pages 653-676, October.
    4. Atella, Vincenzo & Pace, Noemi & Vuri, Daniela, 2008. "Are employers discriminating with respect to weight?: European Evidence using Quantile Regression," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 305-329, December.
    5. Brunello, Giorgio & D'Hombres, Beatrice, 2007. "Does body weight affect wages?: Evidence from Europe," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 1-19, March.
    6. Susi Störmer, 2011. "Führt Attraktivität zum Erfolg? Zum Einfluss des Body-Maß-Index auf den Karriereerfolg," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 63(6), pages 609-631, September.
    7. Élise Coudin & Arthur Souletie, 2016. "Obésité et marché du travail : les impacts de la corpulence sur l’emploi et le salaire," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 486(1), pages 79-102.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    social norms; discrimination; body mass index; cross-country evidence; wage effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • J70 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - General
    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions

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