The Impact of Obesity on Wages: The Role of Personal Interactions and Job Selection

Abstract

We estimate the effects of obesity on wages accounting for the selection of workers into jobs requiring different levels of personal interactions in the work-place. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 combined with detailed information about jobs from O*Net, we confirm the results from the literature finding a wage penalty for obese white women. This penalty is higher in jobs that require a high level of personal interactions. Accounting for job selection using three different specifications does not significantly change the estimated wage penalty.

Keywords: Obesity, Wages, Selection, Personal interactions

JEL Classification: I12, J31