Fat chance! Obesity and the transition from unemployment to employment

Marco Caliendo and Wang-Sheng Lee

Economics & Human Biology, 2013, vol. 11, issue 2, 121-133

Abstract: This paper focuses on estimating the magnitude of any potential weight discrimination by examining whether obese job applicants in Germany get treated or behave differently from non-obese applicants. Based on two waves of rich survey data from the IZA Evaluation dataset, which includes measures that control for education, demographic characteristics, labor market history, psychological factors and health, we estimate differences in job search behavior and labor market outcomes between obese/overweight and normal weight individuals. Unlike other observational studies which are generally based on obese and non-obese individuals who might already be at different points in the job ladder (e.g., household surveys), in our data, individuals are newly unemployed and all start from the same point. The only subgroup we find in our data experiencing any possible form of negative labor market outcomes is obese women. Despite making more job applications and engaging more in job training programs, we find some indications that they experienced worse (or at best similar) employment outcomes than normal weight women. Obese women who found a job also had significantly lower wages than normal weight women.

Keywords: Obesity; Discrimination; Employment; Labor demand (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 I12 J23 J70 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (39)

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Working Paper: Fat Chance! Obesity and the Transition from Unemployment to Employment (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:11:y:2013:i:2:p:121-133

DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2012.02.002

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