OBESITY, OCCUPATIONAL ATTAINMENT, AND EARNINGS

Objective. This study contributes to the study of the relationship bet ween obesity, occupational attainment, and earnings. Methods. Using da ta from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), we utilize a multinomial legit specification to investigate the occupational selec tion of obese individuals. We then estimate earnings functions that ac count for the occupational attainment of the overweight. Results. We f ind that women pay a penalty for being obese, but overweight males, vi a occupational mobility, sort themselves into jobs to offset this pena lty. Conclusions. Weight-related occupational sorting of males may be the outcome of the low barriers they face when moving across occupatio ns. The occupational segregation found for obese women, however, may b e mostly rooted in labor market discrimination.