<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Using within-family variation from twins and siblings, I find that smokers earn approximately 16% less than nonsmokers. Possible explanations for this earning difference are addiction-related productivity declines and earning reductions from higher health insurance costs. To investigate further, I use variation in the provision of employer-supplied health insurance (ESHI) to examine the mechanism of whether the addiction or insurance component has a larger influence on earnings. While I generally observe a larger earning penalty for smokers with ESHI than smokers without ESHI, the earning difference is statistically indistinguishable from zero.</p></abstract>

Using within-family variation from twins and siblings, I find that smokers earn approximately 16% less than nonsmokers. Possible explanations for this earning difference are addiction-related productivity declines and earning reductions from higher health insurance costs. To investigate further, I use variation in the provision of employer-supplied health insurance (ESHI) to examine the mechanism of whether the addiction or insurance component has a larger influence on earnings. While I generally observe a larger earning penalty for smokers with ESHI than smokers without ESHI, the earning difference is statistically indistinguishable from zero.

The Earning Losses of Smokers

IZA Journal of Labor Economics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"The Earning Losses of Smokers"}

Using within-family variation from twins and siblings, I find that smokers earn approximately 16% less than nonsmokers. Possible explanations for this earning...

The Earning Losses of Smokers

Published Online: Mar 30, 2020

Page range: -

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/izajole-2020-0001

Keywords
twins, compensating differentials, smoking, incidence of smoking, employer-supplied health insurance

© 2020 Moiz Bhai, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The Earning Losses of Smokers

Published Online: Mar 30, 2020

Page range: -

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/izajole-2020-0001

Keywordstwins, compensating differentials, smoking, incidence of smoking, employer-supplied health insurance

© 2020 Moiz Bhai, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords
twins, compensating differentials, smoking, incidence of smoking, employer-supplied health insurance