IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/hlthec/v32y2023i7p1478-1503.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is Asian flushing syndrome a disadvantage in the labor market?

Author

Listed:
  • Daiji Kawaguchi
  • Jungmin Lee
  • Ming‐Jen Lin
  • Izumi Yokoyama

Abstract

A large fraction of people in East Asia are incapable of digesting alcohol because of a genetic deficiency. This study examines whether the variation in alcohol tolerance contributes to inequality in the labor market. We conduct our original surveys in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea with the measurement of respondents' degree of alcohol tolerance by a bio‐marker test. We find that alcohol‐tolerant men consume significantly more alcohol, but their earnings and hours worked do not differ from those of alcohol‐intolerant men. Despite a prevalent view that drinking alcohol is indispensable to establish good relationships with colleagues and business partners, our results suggest that there is no systematic impact of alcohol tolerance on labor market outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Daiji Kawaguchi & Jungmin Lee & Ming‐Jen Lin & Izumi Yokoyama, 2023. "Is Asian flushing syndrome a disadvantage in the labor market?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(7), pages 1478-1503, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:32:y:2023:i:7:p:1478-1503
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.4675
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.4675
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/hec.4675?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mullahy, John & Sindelar, Jody, 1996. "Employment, unemployment, and problem drinking," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 409-434, August.
    2. Yew Liang Lee, 2003. "Wage Effects of Drinking in Australia," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 36(3), pages 265-282, September.
    3. van Ours, Jan C., 2002. "A pint a day raises a man's pay; but smoking blows that gain away," IZA Discussion Papers 473, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Tapio Paljärvi & Pekka Martikainen & Tiina Pensola & Taina Leinonen & Kimmo Herttua & Pia Mäkelä, 2015. "Life Course Trajectories of Labour Market Participation among Young Adults Who Experienced Severe Alcohol-Related Health Outcomes: A Retrospective Cohort Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(5), pages 1-14, May.
    5. Stephanie von Hinke Kessler Scholder & George Davey Smith & Debbie A. Lawlor & Carol Propper & Frank Windmeijer, 2011. "Mendelian randomization: the use of genes in instrumental variable analyses," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(8), pages 893-896, August.
    6. Shao-Hsun Keng & Wallace Huffman, 2010. "Binge drinking and labor market success: a longitudinal study on young people," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(1), pages 303-322, January.
    7. French, Michael T. & Zarkin, Gary A., 1995. "Is moderate alcohol use related to wages? Evidence from four worksites," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 319-344, August.
    8. Marco Caliendo & Frank Fossen & Alexander Kritikos, 2014. "Personality characteristics and the decisions to become and stay self-employed," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 787-814, April.
    9. Weiwei Feng & Wei Zhou & J.S. Butler & Brenda M. Booth & Michael T. French, 2001. "The impact of problem drinking on employment," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 10(6), pages 509-521, September.
    10. Alison Snow Jones & David W. Richmond, 2006. "Causal effects of alcoholism on earnings: estimates from the NLSY," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(8), pages 849-871, August.
    11. Ziggy MacDonald & Michael A. Shields, 2004. "Does problem drinking affect employment? Evidence from England," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(2), pages 139-155, February.
    12. Mullahy, John & Sindelar, Jody L, 1993. "Alcoholism, Work, and Income," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(3), pages 494-520, July.
    13. Nicola Persico & Andrew Postlewaite & Dan Silverman, 2004. "The Effect of Adolescent Experience on Labor Market Outcomes: The Case of Height," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(5), pages 1019-1053, October.
    14. Gokce Soydemir & Elena Bastida, 2006. "Alcohol Use and Earnings: Findings from a Community Based Study," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 32(4), pages 617-628, Fall.
    15. von Hinke, Stephanie & Davey Smith, George & Lawlor, Debbie A. & Propper, Carol & Windmeijer, Frank, 2016. "Genetic markers as instrumental variables," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 131-148.
    16. Shao-Hsun Keng & Wallace Huffman, 2010. "Erratum to: Binge drinking and labor market success: a longitudinal study on young people," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(2), pages 833-833, March.
    17. Dave, Dhaval & Kaestner, Robert, 2002. "Alcohol taxes and labor market outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 357-371, May.
    18. David Cesarini & Christopher T. Dawes & Magnus Johannesson & Paul Lichtenstein & Björn Wallace, 2009. "Genetic Variation in Preferences for Giving and Risk Taking," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(2), pages 809-842.
    19. Stephanie Hinke Kessler Scholder & George L. Wehby & Sarah Lewis & Luisa Zuccolo, 2014. "Alcohol Exposure In Utero and Child Academic Achievement," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 0(576), pages 634-667, May.
    20. Ziggy Macdonald & Michael A. Shields, 2001. "The Impact of Alcohol Consumption on Occupational Attainment in England," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 68(271), pages 427-453, August.
    21. van Ours, Jan C., 2004. "A pint a day raises a man's pay; but smoking blows that gain away," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 863-886, September.
    22. Vivian Hamilton & Barton H. Hamilton, 1997. "Alcohol and Earnings: Does Drinking Yield a Wage Premium," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 30(1), pages 135-151, February.
    23. Giorgio Brunello & Guglielmo Weber & Christoph T. Weiss, 2017. "Books are Forever: Early Life Conditions, Education and Lifetime Earnings in Europe," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(600), pages 271-296, March.
    24. Erdal Tekin, 2004. "Employment, Wages, and Alcohol Consumption in Russia," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 71(2), pages 397-417, October.
    25. Giorgio Brunello & Guglielmo Weber & Christoph T. Weiss, 2017. "Books are Forever: Early Life Conditions, Education and Lifetime Earnings in Europe," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(600), pages 271-296, March.
    26. Garry F. Barrett, 2002. "The Effect of Alcohol Consumption on Earnings," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 78(240), pages 79-96, March.
    27. Zarkin, Gary A. & French, Michael T. & Mroz, Thomas & Bray, Jeremy W., 1998. "Alcohol use and wages: New results from the national household survey on drug abuse," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 53-68, January.
    28. Bethany Peters, 2004. "Is there a wage bonus from drinking? Unobserved heterogeneity examined," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(20), pages 2299-2315.
    29. Nicola Persico & Andrew Postlewaite & Dan Silverman, 2001. "The Effect of Adolescent Experience on Labor Market Outcomes: The Case of Height, Third Version," PIER Working Paper Archive 04-013, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, revised 15 Mar 2004.
    30. M. Christopher Auld, 2005. "Smoking, Drinking, and Income," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(2).
    31. Hastie, Nicholas D. & van der Loos, Matthijs J. H. M. & Vitart, Veronique & Völzke, Henry & Wellmann, Jürgen & Yu, Lei & Zhao, Wei & Allik, Jüri & Attia, John R. & Bandinelli, Stefania & Bastardot,, 2013. "GWAS of 126,559 Individuals Identifies Genetic Variants Associated with Educational Attainment," Scholarly Articles 13383543, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Jenny Lye & Joe Hirschberg, 2010. "Alcohol Consumption And Human Capital: A Retrospective Study Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 309-338, April.
    2. Pinka Chatterji & Jeffrey DeSimone, 2006. "High School Alcohol Use and Young Adult Labor Market Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 12529, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Petri Böckerman & Ari Hyytinen & Terhi Maczulskij, 2017. "Alcohol Consumption and Long‐Term Labor Market Outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 275-291, March.
    4. Maryam Dilmaghani, 2022. "The link between smoking, drinking and wages: Health, workplace social capital or discrimination?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 160-183, March.
    5. Marlon P. Mundt & Michael T. French, 2013. "Adolescent alcohol use, sociability and income as a young adult," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(23), pages 3329-3339, August.
    6. J. Jarl & U.-G. Gerdtham, 2012. "Does drinking affect long-term sickness absence? A sample selection approach correcting for employment and accounting for drinking history," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(22), pages 2811-2825, August.
    7. Adams, Scott J. & Heywood, John S. & Ullman, Darin F. & Venkatesh, Shrathinth, 2022. "Social jobs and the returns to drinking," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    8. Preety Srivastava, 2010. "Does Bingeing Affect Earnings?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 86(275), pages 578-595, December.
    9. Chatterji, Pinka & Alegria, Margarita & Takeuchi, David, 2011. "Psychiatric disorders and labor market outcomes: Evidence from the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 858-868.
    10. Nicolas Ziebarth & Markus Grabka, 2009. "In Vino Pecunia? The Association Between Beverage-Specific Drinking Behavior and Wages," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 219-244, September.
    11. Michael T. French & Ioana Popovici, 2011. "That instrument is lousy! In search of agreement when using instrumental variables estimation in substance use research," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(2), pages 127-146, February.
    12. Vasilios Kosteas, 2012. "The Effect of Exercise on Earnings: Evidence from the NLSY," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 225-250, June.
    13. Kim, Vitally, 2010. "Level of alcohol consumption and worker’s labor market position. Multivariate probit model approach," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 18(2), pages 53-77.
    14. Marco Caliendo & Juliane Hennecke, 2022. "Drinking is different! Examining the role of locus of control for alcohol consumption," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(5), pages 2785-2815, November.
    15. Ziggy MacDonald & Michael A. Shields, 2004. "Does problem drinking affect employment? Evidence from England," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(2), pages 139-155, February.
    16. Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli & Torre, Iván, 2022. "Measuring human capital in middle income countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 1036-1067.
    17. Erdal Tekin, 2004. "Employment, Wages, and Alcohol Consumption in Russia," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 71(2), pages 397-417, October.
    18. Ana I. Balsa & Michael T. French, 2010. "Alcohol use and the labor market in Uruguay," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(7), pages 833-854, July.
    19. Tekin, Erdal, 2002. "Employment, Wages, and Alcohol Consumption in Russia: Evidence from Panel Data," IZA Discussion Papers 432, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Cowan, Benjamin W., 2011. "Forward-thinking teens: The effects of college costs on adolescent risky behavior," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 813-825, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wly:hlthec:v:32:y:2023:i:7:p:1478-1503. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/5749 .

    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.