Does height affect labor supply? Implications of product variety and caloric needs

Martin Micheli

VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy from Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association

Abstract: The positive correlation between hourly wages and height, which results in higher labor supply of tall individuals, is well-documented in the literature. This paper introduces two additional channels through which height might affect individual labor supply. Higher caloric needs of tall individuals should result in higher consumption expenditures for food and in an increased labor supply. Size specific products should result in lower product variety and a higher price level for sizes where aggregate demand is low - typically sizes for individuals in the tails of the height distribution - and in lower labor supply of individuals facing low product choice. Introducing these two channels into a household's maximization problem we derive a labor supply equation that allows for an empirical test for the relevance of these two channels. We use the German Socio-Economic Panel Study to estimate this labor supply equation. Caloric needs do not seem to have a significant effect on labor supply. Product choice, on the other hand, does increase labor supply significantly.

JEL-codes: D12 H21 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Working Paper: Does height affect labor supply? Implications of product variety and caloric needs (2015)
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