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Does Employee Body Weight Affect Employers' Behavior?

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Author Info
Lene Kromann () (School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus, Denmark)
Abstract

This paper offers a study of possible favoritism of normal-weight individuals when firms make decisions on hiring, firing and promoting. Most existing studies use a wage equation to document dispersion in wages between normal- and overweight, however little is known about the reason for dispersion. Furthermore, the wage equations do not capture the sorting of workers into different occupations and industries. Using an equilibrium search model, this paper takes search friction and cross-firm differences in factor productivity into account, when looking at firm behavior. Addition- ally, a logit model is used to examine the occupation and industry distribution. Most importantly, we find that wage differences between normal-weight and overweight or obese workers are explained by differential firm behavior, both with respect to the job offer arrival rate and to the probability of being promoted. Further, we find that the trade industry hire overweight workers to a lesser extent than other industries.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus in its series Economics Working Papers with number 2009-04.

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Length: 27
Date of creation: 09 Mar 2009
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:aah:aarhec:2009-04

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Web page: http://www.econ.au.dk/afn/

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Related research
Keywords: Overweight; Firm behavior; Equilibrium Search Model; Multinomial Logit;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Bowlus, Audra J & Kiefer, Nicholas M & Neumann, George R, 2001. "Equilibrium Search Models and the Transition from School to Work," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 42(2), pages 317-43, May.
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  2. Morris, Stephen, 2006. "Body mass index and occupational attainment," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 347-364, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Bergmann, Barbara R, 1971. "The Effect on White Incomes of Discrimination in Employment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 79(2), pages 294-313, March-Apr. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Bowlus, Audra J, 1997. "A Search Interpretation of Male-Female Wage Differentials," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(4), pages 625-57, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Randall S. Brown & Marilyn Moon & Barbara S. Zoloth, 1980. "Occupational attainment and segregation by sex," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 33(4), pages 506-517, July.
  6. Harper, Barry, 2000. " Beauty, Stature and the Labour Market: A British Cohort Study," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 62(0), pages 771-800, Special I. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Stephen R. G. Jones & W. Craig Riddell, 1999. "The Measurement of Unemployment: An Empirical Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 67(1), pages 147-162, January.
    Other versions:
  8. Burdett, Kenneth & Mortensen, Dale T, 1998. "Wage Differentials, Employer Size, and Unemployment," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 39(2), pages 257-73, May.
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This page was last updated on 2009-11-6.

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