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Labour Market, Obesity and Public Policy Considerations

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  • Eleftheriou, Konstantinos
  • Athanasiou, George

Abstract

This paper attempts to investigate the relation among wages, unemployment and obesity and to identify public policies to address the problem of over-weightness. To this purpose, a simple search and matching model of labour market is developed. Our framework tries to capture the relationship between obesity and employment/unemployment by assuming that the fraction of obese workers is a function of the ratio of vacant jobs to unemployment (labour market tightness). We argue that if obesity is positively related with employment, then social optimality dictates the imposition of a lump-sum tax on all individuals. In the opposite case a subsidy should be given.

Suggested Citation

  • Eleftheriou, Konstantinos & Athanasiou, George, 2010. "Labour Market, Obesity and Public Policy Considerations," MPRA Paper 20926, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:20926
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Obesity; Taxation; Unemployment; Wages;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General

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