Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/30617
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 2733
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
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.
Subjects: 
height
wage premium
discrimination
cognitive functions
occupational sorting
JEL: 
J24
J31
J71
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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