体形对城市劳动力就业的影响

Does Body Size Matter in Urban Employment?Evidence from China

基于国务院城镇居民基本医疗保险入户调查(URBMIS)数据,本文用Probit模型详细估计了各种体形指标对城市劳动力就业的影响,发现即使控制了人力资本等因素,体形对就业仍然具有显著的倒U型影响,即存在"体形歧视"。进一步通过对各个年龄段的研究发现,处于事业发展早期的年轻人(18～30岁)其就业状态最易受到体形影响,且女性因肥胖及男性因消瘦而受到歧视的现象更为显著。我们还就此估算出此年龄段女性和男性"最佳就业BMI值",分别为20.1和24.7。通过传导路径分析,我们发现对女性的体型歧视往往受到"审美渠道"的影响,而对男性的体型歧视则更多地受到"健康渠道"的影响。我们的模型还显示,城市劳动力的就业状态(正式与非正式就业)也同样受到体型歧视的影响。本文用中国2008年最新的数据为体形对就业的影响提供新的证据,同时揭示了当前我国城市劳动力就业市场的新特征。

Based on URBMI survey data,we estimated such an impact with the Probit model,and found that the body size has an inverse U-shape effect on the probability of being employed when human capital and other factors are controlled for,indicating the existence of 'body size discrimination'.Further studies show that people in their early career(18～30 age group)are the most vulnerable to such discrimination,and the discrimination is more pronounced against obese females and underweighted males.Based on our results,we calculated the 'optimal employment BMI' for this age group,and it is 20.1 for female and 24.7 for male.Our model also indicates that the discrimination against female is partially based on 'aesthetic channel',while the male discrimination is mostly based on 'health channel'.Furthermore,we found that the employment type(formal employment vs.informal employment)is also affected by body size.Our paper provides new evidence on the impact of body size on employment,and reveals new characteristics of the Chinese urban labor market.