Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/314596 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 17699
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We study how population variation in testosterone levels impacts male labour market earnings using data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study between 2011 and 2013. We exploit genetic variation between individuals as instrumental variables following a Mendelian Randomization approach to address the endogeneity of testosterone levels. Our findings show that higher testosterone levels have a strong positive impact on earnings. Importantly, these findings are limited to men belonging to the lower quartile of the testosterone distribution and working in higher-paid jobs. We show that differences within rather than between occupations drive these findings, whereas we find limited support for selection into occupation or mechanisms involving individual characteristics, including personality traits and education.
Subjects: 
earnings
IV
testosterone
Mendelian Randomisation
JEL: 
J31
C26
I10
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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