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Productivity or discrimination? An economic analysis of excess-weight penalty in the Swedish labor market

Dackehag, Margareta LU ; Gerdtham, Ulf LU orcid and Nordin, Martin LU (2011) In Lund University, Department of Economics Working Papers 2011(12).
Abstract
Using longitudinal data, this paper investigates the penalty for excess weight in the Swedish labor market, distinguishing between the productivity and the discrimination hypotheses. We analyze employment, income, and sickness absence , using the latter as a direct measure of productivity. We find that excess weight women, but not men, experience a significant employment penalty. Both genders experience a significant income penalty for obesity. We conclude that the penalties are associated with lower productivity, primarily in terms of health. We find no evidence of discrimination.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
keywords
sickness absence, income, Employment, obesity, overweight
in
Lund University, Department of Economics Working Papers
volume
2011
issue
12
pages
26 pages
publisher
Department of Economics, Lund University
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b8f3c6d8-ad25-42cc-8570-9cca442bdd4b (old id 1983967)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 11:14:51
date last changed
2023-06-02 12:26:22
@misc{b8f3c6d8-ad25-42cc-8570-9cca442bdd4b,
  abstract     = {{Using longitudinal data, this paper investigates the penalty for excess weight in the Swedish labor market, distinguishing between the productivity and the discrimination hypotheses. We analyze employment, income, and sickness absence , using the latter as a direct measure of productivity. We find that excess weight women, but not men, experience a significant employment penalty. Both genders experience a significant income penalty for obesity. We conclude that the penalties are associated with lower productivity, primarily in terms of health. We find no evidence of discrimination.}},
  author       = {{Dackehag, Margareta and Gerdtham, Ulf and Nordin, Martin}},
  keywords     = {{sickness absence; income; Employment; obesity; overweight}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{12}},
  publisher    = {{Department of Economics, Lund University}},
  series       = {{Lund University, Department of Economics Working Papers}},
  title        = {{Productivity or discrimination? An economic analysis of excess-weight penalty in the Swedish labor market}},
  volume       = {{2011}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}