IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eujhec/v19y2018i8d10.1007_s10198-018-0966-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of health on wages: evidence for Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Ana Rodriguez-Alvarez

    (University of Oviedo)

  • César Rodriguez-Gutierrez

    (University of Oviedo)

Abstract

This paper analyses the effects of health on wages in sixteen European countries using production frontier methodology. It is assumed that workers have a potential income/productivity which basically depends on their human capital, but due to several health problems, situations could exist where workers fail to reach their potential income frontier. The estimation of a true-random-effects model allows us to conclude that the potential hourly wage of workers is significantly influenced by their level of education and their job experience. However, health problems, especially those strongly influencing work activities, contribute towards an individual not attaining the potential income which would otherwise be guaranteed by their human capital endowment. Suffering a strong limitation reduces gross wage per hour by 6.1%. This wage reduction is also observed in the case of a weak limitation, but here the wage difference with respect to workers without any limitation is 2.6%. Additionally, other factors, such as being a woman, the economic cycle or having a temporary contract, appear to distance an individual from their wage frontier.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana Rodriguez-Alvarez & César Rodriguez-Gutierrez, 2018. "The impact of health on wages: evidence for Europe," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(8), pages 1173-1187, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujhec:v:19:y:2018:i:8:d:10.1007_s10198-018-0966-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s10198-018-0966-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10198-018-0966-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10198-018-0966-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. (*), Nigel Rice & Paul Contoyannis, 2001. "The impact of health on wages: Evidence from the British Household Panel Survey," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 599-622.
    2. Caudill, Steven B. & Ford, Jon M., 1993. "Biases in frontier estimation due to heteroscedasticity," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 17-20.
    3. Hadri, Kaddour, 1999. "Estimation of a Doubly Heteroscedastic Stochastic Frontier Cost Function," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 17(3), pages 359-363, July.
    4. Robert Jäckle & Oliver Himmler, 2010. "Health and Wages: Panel Data Estimates Considering Selection and Endogeneity," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(2).
    5. Lynn M Gambin, 2005. "The impact of health on wages in Europe – does gender matter?," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 05/03, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    6. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling, Experience, and Earnings," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number minc74-1, March.
    7. Hung-jen Wang & Peter Schmidt, 2002. "One-Step and Two-Step Estimation of the Effects of Exogenous Variables on Technical Efficiency Levels," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 129-144, September.
    8. Selma J. Mushkin, 1962. "Health as an Investment," NBER Chapters, in: Investment in Human Beings, pages 129-157, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Michael Grossman & Lee Benham, 1974. "Health, Hours and Wages," International Economic Association Series, in: Mark Perlman (ed.), The Economics of Health and Medical Care, chapter 12, pages 205-233, Palgrave Macmillan.
    10. María A.Davia & Virginia Hernanz, 2004. "Temporary employment and segmentation in the Spanish labour market: An empirical analysis through the study of wage differentials," Spanish Economic Review, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 291-318, December.
    11. Manuel Flores & Melchor Fernández & Yolanda Pena-Boquete, 2020. "The impact of health on wages: evidence from Europe before and during the Great Recession," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 72(2), pages 319-346.
    12. Thomas Barnay, 2016. "Health, work and working conditions: a review of the European economic literature," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 17(6), pages 693-709, July.
    13. Mincer, Jacob, 1970. "The Distribution of Labor Incomes: A Survey with Special Reference to the Human Capital Approach," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 1-26, March.
    14. Luft, Harold S, 1975. "The Impact of Poor Health on Earnings," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 57(1), pages 43-57, February.
    15. Nick Drydakis, 2010. "Health impairments and labour market outcomes," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 11(5), pages 457-469, October.
    16. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling and Earnings," NBER Chapters, in: Schooling, Experience, and Earnings, pages 41-63, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Battese, G E & Coelli, T J, 1995. "A Model for Technical Inefficiency Effects in a Stochastic Frontier Production Function for Panel Data," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 325-332.
    18. Greene, William, 2005. "Reconsidering heterogeneity in panel data estimators of the stochastic frontier model," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 126(2), pages 269-303, June.
    19. Hung-Jen Wang, 2002. "Heteroscedasticity and Non-Monotonic Efficiency Effects of a Stochastic Frontier Model," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 241-253, November.
    20. Blaug, Mark, 1976. "The Empirical Status of Human Capital Theory: A Slightly Jaundiced Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 827-855, September.
    21. Mark P. Connolly & Cole Tashjian & Nikolaos Kotsopoulos & Aomesh Bhatt & Maarten J. Postma, 2017. "A comparison of average wages with age-specific wages for assessing indirect productivity losses: analytic simplicity versus analytic precision," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 18(6), pages 697-701, July.
    22. Grossman, Michael, 1972. "On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(2), pages 223-255, March-Apr.
    23. Juan F. Jimeno & Luis Toharia, 1993. "The effects of fixed-term employment on wages: theory and evidence from Spain," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 17(3), pages 475-494, September.
    24. Sara de la Rica & Arantza Ugidos, 1995. "¿Son las diferencias en capital humano determinantes en las diferencias salariales observadas entre hombres y mujeres?," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 19(3), pages 395-414, September.
    25. Caudill, Steven B & Ford, Jon M & Gropper, Daniel M, 1995. "Frontier Estimation and Firm-Specific Inefficiency Measures in the Presence of Heteroscedasticity," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 13(1), pages 105-111, January.
    26. Booth, Alison L. & Francesconi, Marco & Frank, Jeff, 2003. "A sticky floors model of promotion, pay, and gender," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 295-322, April.
    27. Berkowitz, Monroe & Fenn, Paul & Lambrinos, James, 1983. "The optimal stock of health with endogenous wages : Application to partial disability compensation," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(2), pages 139-147, August.
    28. Selma J. Mushkin, 1962. "Health as an Investment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70, pages 129-129.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kartseva, M. & Kuznetsova, P., 2022. "Stay healthy - will the rest follow? The impact of health on wages in Russia," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 57(5), pages 55-70.
    2. Wenmei Liao & Jiawei Wang & Ying Lin & Yao Wang, 2021. "Chronic Illness and Income Diversification in Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-15, March.
    3. Huang, Liqing & Zhu, Bangzhu & Wang, Ping & Chevallier, Julien, 2022. "Energy out-of-poverty and inclusive growth: Evidence from the China health and nutrition survey," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 344-352.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Joanna María Bashford-Fernández & Ana Rodríguez-Álvarez, 2019. "Wage Frontiers in Pre and Post-crisis Spain: Implications for Welfare and Inequality," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(2), pages 579-608, June.
    2. Paul, Satya & Shankar, Sriram, 2018. "Modelling Efficiency Effects in a True Fixed Effects Stochastic Frontier," MPRA Paper 87437, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Satya Paul & Sriram Shankar, 2020. "Estimating efficiency effects in a panel data stochastic frontier model," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 163-180, April.
    4. Giovanni Marin & Alessandro Palma, 2015. "Technology invention and diffusion in residential energy consumption. A stochastic frontier approach," IEFE Working Papers 81, IEFE, Center for Research on Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    5. Antti Saastamoinen, 2015. "Heteroscedasticity Or Production Risk? A Synthetic View," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 459-478, July.
    6. Andrew M. Jones & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Teresa Bago D’Uva & Silvia Balia & Lynn Gambin & Cristina Hernández Quevedo & Xander Koolman & Nigel Rice, 2006. "Health and Wealth: Empirical Findings and Political Consequences," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 7(s1), pages 93-112, May.
    7. Jorge Galán & Helena Veiga & Michael Wiper, 2014. "Bayesian estimation of inefficiency heterogeneity in stochastic frontier models," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 85-101, August.
    8. Markose Chekol Zewdie & Michele Moretti & Daregot Berihun Tenessa & Zemen Ayalew Ayele & Jan Nyssen & Enyew Adgo Tsegaye & Amare Sewnet Minale & Steven Van Passel, 2021. "Agricultural Technical Efficiency of Smallholder Farmers in Ethiopia: A Stochastic Frontier Approach," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-17, March.
    9. Sarah Brown & Jennifer Roberts & Karl Taylor, 2010. "Reservation wages, labour market participation and health," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 173(3), pages 501-529, July.
    10. Kartseva, M. & Kuznetsova, P., 2022. "Stay healthy - will the rest follow? The impact of health on wages in Russia," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 57(5), pages 55-70.
    11. Fabio Pieri & Enrico Zaninotto, 2010. "The Impact of Vertical Integration and Outsourcing on Firm Efficiency: Evidence from the Italian Machine Tool Industry," DISA Working Papers 1001, Department of Computer and Management Sciences, University of Trento, Italy, revised 11 Mar 2010.
    12. repec:kap:iaecre:v:14:y:2008:i:1:p:76-89 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Efecan, Volkan & Temiz, İzzettin, 2023. "Assessing the technical efficiency of container ports based on a non-monotonic inefficiency effects model," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    14. Subal Kumbhakar & Gudbrand Lien & J. Hardaker, 2014. "Technical efficiency in competing panel data models: a study of Norwegian grain farming," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 321-337, April.
    15. Mäkinen, Mikko, 2007. "Do Stock Opiton Schemes Affect Technical Inefficiency? Evidence from Finland," Discussion Papers 1085, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    16. Narangerel Ganbold & Shah Fahad & Hua Li & Tumendemberel Gungaa, 2022. "An evaluation of subsidy policy impacts, transient and persistent technical efficiency: A case of Mongolia," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(7), pages 9223-9242, July.
    17. Fabio Pieri & Enrico Zaninotto, 2013. "Vertical integration and efficiency: an application to the Italian machine tool industry," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 397-416, February.
    18. Dipanwita Sarkar & Trevor C. Collier, 2019. "Does host-country education mitigate immigrant inefficiency? Evidence from earnings of Australian university graduates," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 81-106, January.
    19. Jacob A. Bikker & Barbara Casu & Claudia Girardone & Mohamed E Chaffai & Michel Dietsch & Antonio Colangelo & Robert Inklaar & Marco Colagiovanni & Martin Czurda & Roger Hartmann & Charles-Henri Di Ma, 2009. "Productivity in the Financial Services Sector," SUERF Studies, SUERF - The European Money and Finance Forum, number 2009/4 edited by Morten Balling & Ernest Gnan & Frank Lierman & Jean-Pierre Schoder, May.
    20. Tiziana Laureti, 2008. "Modelling Exogenous Variables in Human Capital Formation through a Heteroscedastic Stochastic Frontier," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 14(1), pages 76-89, February.
    21. Paul, Satya & Shankar, Sriram, 2018. "On estimating efficiency effects in a stochastic frontier model," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 271(2), pages 769-774.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eujhec:v:19:y:2018:i:8:d:10.1007_s10198-018-0966-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.