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

Author

Summary, in English

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.

Publishing year

2011

Language

English

Publication/Series

Lund University, Department of Economics Working Papers

Volume

2011

Issue

12

Document type

Working paper

Publisher

Department of Economics, Lund University

Topic

  • Economics

Keywords

  • sickness absence
  • income
  • Employment
  • obesity
  • overweight

Status

Published