Correlation between height and income no tall story
Matthew Clayfield | May 18, 2009
The Australian
THERE may be no correlation between a person's weight and income, researchers have found, but give or take five centimetres in height and it's another story.
According to a study by Australian National University economist Andrew Leigh and University of Sydney public health researcher Michael Kortt, every five centimetres of height are worth about $950 per annum to the average man.
"The wage gain from another 2 inches (5cm) of height is approximately equal to wage gain from one more year of labour market experience," Professor Leigh said.
"For example, the average man in our sample is 5 feet 10 inches (178cm) tall. Our estimates suggest that if he was 6 feet tall (183cm), he would earn another 1.5 per cent, or around $950 per year."
He said the findings, which are based on data from a nationally representative sample, are constant across other wage-influencing factors including age, race, experience and education.
"However, we found the effect of height on women's wages was smaller than for men, and not statistically significant," he said.
Also looked at was the relationship between wages and body mass index, but no wage penalty to overweight or obese workers was found.
"This is in contrast with previous studies that used older data from the United States and Germany and found that people with higher BMI scores earned lower wages," Professor Leigh said.
Measuring in at 193cm, Sydneysider Brendon Atkinson laughed off the idea he was worth $2850 more than the study's "average man".
But he said there was some merit to the idea that taller men often made more of an impact in the workplace.
"I think a lot of the time taller people can be perceived to be more assertive and confident," he said. "And sometimes people look up to people who have a larger mass. You tend to find that more people confide in you, which can certainly have its benefits in the workplace."
But Mr Atkinson, who works in sales and marketing, said he didn't think it was possible to put a dollar figure on every centimetre.
"Some people are tall but self-conscious and don't get very far ... Some people are short and aggressive and make a lot of money."
Professor Leigh and Dr Kortt found that 36 per cent of Australian workers were overweight while 22 per cent were obese.
"Perhaps Australians are less likely to discriminate against overweight and obese workers than the other nations," Professor Leigh said.
"Or maybe ... we are using more recent data than the other studies and the majority of workers are now overweight or obese."
Matthew Clayfield | May 18, 2009
The Australian
THERE may be no correlation between a person's weight and income, researchers have found, but give or take five centimetres in height and it's another story.
According to a study by Australian National University economist Andrew Leigh and University of Sydney public health researcher Michael Kortt, every five centimetres of height are worth about $950 per annum to the average man.
"The wage gain from another 2 inches (5cm) of height is approximately equal to wage gain from one more year of labour market experience," Professor Leigh said.
"For example, the average man in our sample is 5 feet 10 inches (178cm) tall. Our estimates suggest that if he was 6 feet tall (183cm), he would earn another 1.5 per cent, or around $950 per year."
He said the findings, which are based on data from a nationally representative sample, are constant across other wage-influencing factors including age, race, experience and education.
"However, we found the effect of height on women's wages was smaller than for men, and not statistically significant," he said.
Also looked at was the relationship between wages and body mass index, but no wage penalty to overweight or obese workers was found.
"This is in contrast with previous studies that used older data from the United States and Germany and found that people with higher BMI scores earned lower wages," Professor Leigh said.
Measuring in at 193cm, Sydneysider Brendon Atkinson laughed off the idea he was worth $2850 more than the study's "average man".
But he said there was some merit to the idea that taller men often made more of an impact in the workplace.
"I think a lot of the time taller people can be perceived to be more assertive and confident," he said. "And sometimes people look up to people who have a larger mass. You tend to find that more people confide in you, which can certainly have its benefits in the workplace."
But Mr Atkinson, who works in sales and marketing, said he didn't think it was possible to put a dollar figure on every centimetre.
"Some people are tall but self-conscious and don't get very far ... Some people are short and aggressive and make a lot of money."
Professor Leigh and Dr Kortt found that 36 per cent of Australian workers were overweight while 22 per cent were obese.
"Perhaps Australians are less likely to discriminate against overweight and obese workers than the other nations," Professor Leigh said.
"Or maybe ... we are using more recent data than the other studies and the majority of workers are now overweight or obese."
