Decomposition of income differences between the obese and the non-obese in Brazil

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to measure income differences between the obese and the non-obese for Brazil and understand which components explain these differences.Design/methodology/approachA decomposition method based on recentered influence functions, proposed by Firpo et al. (2007) is used, and the procedure is applied to individuals' income distribution quantiles.FindingsThe results confirm the existence of a wage gap between obese and non-obese men and women. In the case of men, the difference was favorable to the obese in all quantiles and in the case of women, favorable to the non-obese. The biggest differences were observed at the top of the distribution. This difference is mostly explained by observable characteristics that cause the wage gap between groups. The wage structure effect, which may have elements associated with discrimination in its composition, was not relevant in most quantiles.Research limitations/implicationsUnobserved factors can impact the results, but our methodology tries to minimize such impact.Practical implicationsThe authors can only observe a point in time and with that they do not know how long the individual has been obese.Originality/valueThe methodology adopted in the work is recent; moreover, studies on the effects of obesity on the labor market are still recent in Brazilian research.