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Stature and life-time labor market outcomes: Accounting for unobserved differences

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  • Bockerman, Petri
  • Vainiomäki, Jari

Abstract

We use twin data matched to register-based individual information on earnings and employment to examine the effect of height on life-time labor market outcomes. The use of twin data allows us to remove otherwise unobserved ability and other differences. The twin pair difference estimates from instrumental variables estimation for genetically identical twins reveal a significant height-wage premium for women but not for men. This result implies that cognitive ability explains the effect of height on life-time earnings for men. Additional findings using capital income as the outcome variable suggest that discrimination against short persons may play a role for women.

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  • Bockerman, Petri & Vainiomäki, Jari, 2012. "Stature and life-time labor market outcomes: Accounting for unobserved differences," MPRA Paper 42220, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:42220
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    1. Height and labor market outcomes among twins
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2013-08-20 19:52:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Amin, Vikesh & Fletcher, Jason M., 2022. "What is driving the relationship between height and cognition? Evidence from the Twins Early Development Study," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    2. Sohn, Kitae, 2015. "The height premium in Indonesia," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 1-15.
    3. Sandewall, Örjan & Cesarini, David & Johannesson, Magnus, 2014. "The co-twin methodology and returns to schooling — testing a critical assumption," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 1-10.
    4. McGovern, Mark E., 2014. "Comparing the relationship between stature and later life health in six low and middle income countries," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 4(C), pages 128-148.
    5. Jun Wang & Qihui Chen & Gang Chen & Yingxiang Li & Guoshu Kong & Chen Zhu, 2020. "What is creating the height premium? New evidence from a Mendelian randomization analysis in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(4), pages 1-20, April.
    6. Böckerman, Petri & Bryson, Alex & Viinikainen, Jutta & Hakulinen, Christian & Pulkki-Råback, Laura & Raitakari, Olli & Pehkonen, Jaakko, 2017. "Biomarkers and long-term labour market outcomes: The case of creatine," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 259-274.
    7. Thompson, Kristina & Portrait, France & Schoonmade, Linda, 2023. "The height premium: A systematic review and meta-analysis," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    8. Petri Bockerman & Alex Bryson & Christian Hakulinen & Jaakko Pehkonen & Laura Pulkki-Raback & Olli Raitakari & Jutta Viinikainen, 2014. "Biomarkers and Long-term Market Outcomes: The Case of Creatine," CEP Discussion Papers dp1279, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    9. Suyong Song & Stephen S. Baek, 2019. "Shape Matters: Evidence from Machine Learning on Body Shape-Income Relationship," Papers 1906.06747, arXiv.org.
    10. Wilson, Nicholas & Janicki, Martha, 2016. "A cut above the rest? Private anthropometrics in marriage markets," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 164-179.
    11. Lång, Elisabeth & Nystedt, Paul, 2018. "Two by two, inch by inch: Height as an indicator of environmental conditions during childhood and its influence on earnings over the life cycle among twins," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 53-66.
    12. Mark E. McGovern & Aditi Krishna & Victor M. Aguayo & S.V. Subramanian, 2017. "A Review of the Evidence Linking Child Stunting to Economic Outcomes," CHaRMS Working Papers 17-03, Centre for HeAlth Research at the Management School (CHaRMS).
    13. Rietveld, Cornelius A. & Hessels, Jolanda & van der Zwan, Peter, 2015. "The stature of the self-employed and its relation with earnings and satisfaction," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 59-74.
    14. Yamamura, Eiji & Smyth, Russell & Zhang, Yan, 2015. "Decomposing the effect of height on income in China: The role of market and political channels," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 62-74.
    15. Böckerman, Petri & Bryson, Alex & Viinikainen, Jutta & Hakulinen, Christian & Pulkki-Råback, Laura & Raitakari, Olli & Pehkonen, Jaakko, 2017. "Biomarkers and long-term labour market outcomes: The case of creatine," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 259-274.
    16. Panczak, Radoslaw & Moser, André & Held, Leonhard & Jones, Philip A. & Rühli, Frank J. & Staub, Kaspar, 2017. "A tall order: Small area mapping and modelling of adult height among Swiss male conscripts," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 61-69.
    17. Kitae Sohn, 2016. "Height and Happiness in a Developing Country," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 1-23, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Height; Weight; BMI; Height premium; Earnings; Employment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General

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