
handle: 10419/30617
Taller workers earn on average higher salaries. Recent research has proposed cognitive abilities and social skills as explanations for the height-wage premium. Another possible mechanism, employer discrimination, has found little support. In this paper, we provide some evidence in favor of the discrimination hypothesis. Using a cross section of 13 countries, we show that there is a consistent height-wage premium across Europe and that it is largely due to occupational sorting. We show that height has a significant effect for the occupational sorting of employed workers but not for the self-employed. We interpret this result as evidence of employer discrimination in favor of taller workers. Our results are consistent with the theoretical predictions of recent models on statistical discrimination and employer learning.
occupational sorting, 330, cognitive functions, ddc:330, Gesundheit, J24, wage premium, Arbeitsmarktdiskriminierung, Personalauswahl, J31, Europa, height, wage premium, discrimination, cognitive functions, occupational sorting, J71, height, discrimination, jel: jel:J71, jel: jel:J31, jel: jel:J24
occupational sorting, 330, cognitive functions, ddc:330, Gesundheit, J24, wage premium, Arbeitsmarktdiskriminierung, Personalauswahl, J31, Europa, height, wage premium, discrimination, cognitive functions, occupational sorting, J71, height, discrimination, jel: jel:J71, jel: jel:J31, jel: jel:J24
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| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Top 10% | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |
