The relationship between physical work and the height premium: Finnish evidence

Petri Böckerman; Edvard Johansson; Urpo Kiiskinen; Markku Heliövaara

doi:10.1016/j.ehb.2010.09.003

The relationship between physical work and the height premium: Finnish evidence

Petri Böckerman, Edvard Johansson, Urpo Kiiskinen, Markku Heliövaara

Economics, Vaasa

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper examines the role of physical strength in the determination of the height wage premium by using the "Health 2000 in Finland" data that contain both self-reported information on the physical strenuousness of work, and information on muscle mass from medical examinations. The results suggest that there are generally no distinct differences in the height premium between four different work strain categories. We also find that muscle mass is positively associated with wages per se. The premium is both statistically and economically more significant for men than for women. In terms of occupational sorting, we observe that the shortest men do physically very demanding work and the tallest do sedentary work, even after controlling for the influences of age and education.

Original language	English
Peer-reviewed scientific journal	Economics & Human Biology
Volume	8
Issue number	3
Pages (from-to)	414-420
Number of pages	7
ISSN	1570-677X
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2010.09.003
Publication status	Published - 12.2010
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article - refereed

Keywords

511 Economics
Height
Height premium
Body composition
Wages
Finland

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AU - Johansson, Edvard

AU - Kiiskinen, Urpo

AU - Heliövaara, Markku

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KW - Body composition

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SN - 1570-677X

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The relationship between physical work and the height premium: Finnish evidence

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