Height as a proxy for cognitive and non-cognitive ability

Description

"Taller workers receive a substantial wage premium. Studies extending back to the middle of the last century attribute the premium to non-cognitive abilities, which are associated with stature and rewarded in the labor market. More recent research argues that cognitive abilities explain the stature-wage relationship. This paper reconciles the competing views by recognizing that net nutrition, a major determinant of adult height, is integral to our cognitive and non-cognitive development. Using data from Britain's National Childhood Development Study (NCDS), we show that taller children have higher average cognitive and non-cognitive test scores, and that each aptitude accounts for a substantial and roughly equal portion of the stature premium. Together these abilities explain why taller people have higher wages"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.

Subjects

Series Statement

• NBER working paper series -- working paper 16570
• Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research : Online) -- working paper no. 16570.

Links

• http://www.nber.org/papers/w16570