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Author: Lempert, David A.
Resulting in 3 citations.
1. Lempert, David A.
Not Worth the Weight: Wage Penalties from Overweight and Obesity in the United States, 2002-2008
Working Paper, City University of New York, 2011
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: City University of New York
Keyword(s): Obesity; Racial Differences; Wage Differentials; Wages; Weight

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Previous studies have shown both that overweight and obesity lead to lower wages and that low wages cause overweight and obesity. This paper analyzes data from the 2002 to 2008 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to study the relationship between body composition and wages. Unlike previous studies, this study uses newer measures of body composition – body fat and fat-free mass calculated from bioelectrical impedance analysis data in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Using both Ordinary Least Squares and Instrumental Variables, the paper concludes that there is a statistically significant wage penalty for overweight and obese individuals; a rise in body fat is associated with decreases in the wages of both white males and females. A rise in fat-free mass, however, is associated with increases in the wages of white males and females. The results also hold for black females and to a lesser extent for black males. Inspired by studies that provide evidence that low wages contribute to excess weight, this paper hypothesizes that the negative impact of excess weight on wages (and positive impact of additional fat-free mass) is larger at higher levels of income. A quantile regression analysis provides some evidence that, at least for white females, both the premium associated with fat-free mass and the penalty associated with body fat are larger at higher levels of income.
Bibliography Citation
Lempert, David A. "Not Worth the Weight: Wage Penalties from Overweight and Obesity in the United States, 2002-2008." Working Paper, City University of New York, 2011.
2. Lempert, David A.
The Economic Causes and Consequences of Overweight and Obesity in the United States
Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Economics, City University of New York, 2014
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT)
Keyword(s): Body Mass Index (BMI); Geocoded Data; Insurance, Health; Obesity; State-Level Data/Policy; Wage Penalty/Career Penalty; Weight

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

A growing body of literature explores the relationship between body composition and income in the United States. There are two views: (1) overweight and obesity lead to lower wages; and (2) low family income and low wages contribute to overweight and obesity. I study both relationships using a dataset comprised of the most recent years of data available in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979.

I find relatively larger effects of body composition on wage levels in Not Worth the Weight: The Relationship between Body Composition and Wages, and relatively smaller effects of family income on body composition in Poor Choices: The Effects of Family Income on Body Composition. In Not Worth the Weight, I hypothesize that the negative impact of body composition increases at higher wage levels because the associated positions require additional education and perhaps a slimmer figure. The results show that for women, the effects of body composition on wage levels are larger than for men, and a higher wage level is associated with a higher wage penalty for being overweight. Poor Choices is unable to prove that low family income has a significantly large impact on body composition.

In The Heavy Cost of Healthcare: The Ex Ante Moral Hazard Effect of Health Insurance Possession on Body Composition, I use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, augmented with state-level food and tobacco prices, in an attempt to prove there is ex ante moral hazard associated with the possession of health insurance such that the insured are more likely to be overweight or obese. I hypothesize that the effect is larger when an individual is covered by government health insurance and smaller when the individual is covered by private insurance. The analysis shows that the ex ante moral hazard effect is larger when Medicaid covers the individual. When I control for individual fixed effects as well as endogeneity, however, results are insignificant. Thus it is inconclusive whether insurance has an impact on body composition. I conclude with suggestions for future research and effective policies to combat the public health epidemic of overweight and obesity.

Bibliography Citation
Lempert, David A. The Economic Causes and Consequences of Overweight and Obesity in the United States. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Economics, City University of New York, 2014.
3. Lempert, David A.
Women's Increasing Wage Penalties from Being Overweight and Obese
BLS Economic Working Paper No. 414. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, December 2007
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: U.S. Department of Labor
Keyword(s): Obesity; Racial Differences; Wage Differentials; Wages, Women; Weight

This paper first utilizes annual surveys between the 1981 and 2000 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to estimate the effect of being overweight on hourly wages. Previous studies have shown that white women are the only race-gender group for which weight has a statistically significant effect on wages. This paper finds a statistically significant continual increase in the wage penalty for overweight and obese white women followed throughout two decades. A supporting analysis from a cross-sectional dataset, comprised of the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey and the 2000 and 2004 waves of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, also shows an increasing wage penalty. The bias against weight has increased, despite drastic increases in the rate of obesity in the United States. Alternatively, the increasing rarity of thinness has led to its rising premium.
Bibliography Citation
Lempert, David A. "Women's Increasing Wage Penalties from Being Overweight and Obese." BLS Economic Working Paper No. 414. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, December 2007.