Working Paper: NBER ID: w15101
Authors: Naci H. Mocan; Erdal Tekin
Abstract: Obesity is associated with serious health problems, and it can generate adverse economic outcomes. We analyze a nationally-representative sample of young American adults to investigate the interplay between obesity, wages and self-esteem. Wages can be impacted directly by obesity, and they can be influenced by obesity indirectly through the channel of obesity to self-esteem to wages. We find that female wages are directly influenced by body weight, and self-esteem has an impact on wages in case of whites. Being overweight or obese has a negative impact on the self-esteem of females and of black males. The results suggest that obesity has the most significant impact on white women's wages.
Keywords: obesity; self-esteem; wages
JEL Codes: I1; I12; J3; J31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| obesity (I12) | self-esteem (I31) |
| self-esteem (I31) | wages (J31) |
| obesity (I12) | wages (J31) |