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Height, Weight and Well-Being for Rural, Urban and Migrant Workers in China

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  • Wang-Sheng Lee

    (Deakin University
    IZA)

  • Zhong Zhao

    (Renmin University of China
    IZA)

Abstract

In general, the happiness literature has paid little attention to the relationship between physical appearance and well-being. In this paper, we examine the link between weight, height and well-being for three distinct samples in China given that attractiveness effects likely vary greatly across sociocultural contexts. As China has recently undergone rapid economic transformation in the urban areas, this empirical exercise is particularly interesting because it can highlight how changing social norms have affected the relationship between physical appearance and subjective well-being. For the rural and migrant samples, we find that for both men and women, big and tall individuals have higher levels of well-being. This is consistent with the notion that the strong are better off when more labor intensive work is the norm. For the urban sample and for urban males in particular, no well-being penalty is found for being obese, unlike previous results based on Western samples. It is very likely that the unique Chinese cultural practice of network building banquets and feasting is behind this finding.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang-Sheng Lee & Zhong Zhao, 2017. "Height, Weight and Well-Being for Rural, Urban and Migrant Workers in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 117-136, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:132:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s11205-015-1143-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-015-1143-y
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    Cited by:

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    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. Li, Shuanglong & Chen, Yunsong & He, Guangye, 2018. "Laugh and grow fat: Happiness affects body mass index among Urban Chinese adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 55-63.
    5. Xiaohuan Xie & Yinrong Li & Ruobing Wang & Zhonghua Gou, 2023. "Park Recreation Intention and Satisfaction of Blue-Collar Workers Based on the ACSI Model: A Case Study of Anning Industrial Park in Yunnan," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-26, March.
    6. Yong Ma & Diandian Chen, 2022. "Openness, Income Inequality, and Happiness: Evidence from China," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(2), pages 371-393, June.
    7. Nicola Mucci & Veronica Traversini & Gabriele Giorgi & Giacomo Garzaro & Javier Fiz-Perez & Marcello Campagna & Venerando Rapisarda & Eleonora Tommasi & Manfredi Montalti & Giulio Arcangeli, 2019. "Migrant Workers and Physical Health: An Umbrella Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-22, January.
    8. Tao Zhang, 2022. "Measuring following behaviour in gift giving by utility function: statistical model and empirical evidence from China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12, December.
    9. Jie Li & Wangshuai Wang & Gong Sun & Zhou Jiang & Zhiming Cheng, 2018. "Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi and Job Satisfaction Among Migrant Workers in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(1), pages 293-307, August.
    10. Caiquan Bai & Yuan Gong & Chen Feng, 2019. "Social Trust, Pattern of Difference, and Subjective Well-Being," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(3), pages 21582440198, July.
    11. Kazuma Sato, 2021. "Unhappy and Happy Obesity: A Comparative Study on the United States and China," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1259-1285, March.
    12. Zeng, Qiyan & Yu, Xiaohua, 2019. "Overweight and obesity standards and subjective well-being: Evidence from China," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 144-148.
    13. Fang, Junyan & Wen, Zhonglin & Ouyang, Jinying & Huang, Guomin & Liu, Xiqin, 2022. "The reciprocal longitudinal relationship between body mass index and subjective well-being in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 297(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    China; Subjective well-being; Height; Weight; Semi-parametric;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General

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