Working Paper: NBER ID: w16570
Authors: Andreas Schick; Richard H. Steckel
Abstract: Taller workers receive a substantial wage premium. Studies extending back to the middle of the last century attribute the premium to non-cognitive abilities, which are associated with stature and rewarded in the labor market. More recent research argues that cognitive abilities explain the stature-wage relationship. This paper reconciles the competing views by recognizing that net nutrition, a major determinant of adult height, is integral to our cognitive and non-cognitive development. Using data from Britain's National Childhood Development Study (NCDS), we show that taller children have higher average cognitive and non-cognitive test scores, and that each aptitude accounts for a substantial and roughly equal portion of the stature premium. Together these abilities explain why taller people have higher wages.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: N3; J24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| stature (I31) | cognitive abilities (G53) |
| stature (I31) | noncognitive abilities (D91) |
| cognitive abilities (G53) | wages (J31) |
| noncognitive abilities (D91) | wages (J31) |
| stature (I31) | wages (J31) |
| cognitive abilities and noncognitive abilities (D29) | wages (J31) |