Health and productivity in a heterogeneous urban labour market

Abstract

The effects of changes in various health indicators on hourly earnings in different sectors of the labour market are examined using survey data from Conakry, Guinea. Greater height, which is associated with greater strength, raises earnings of men both in self-employment and the private wage sector, where work is likely to involve physical labour. Height does not matter for women's earnings, which likely reflects the less physically strenuous nature of most women's activities. Body mass index, treated as an endogenous variable, appears to raise earnings of men in self- and private wage employment and of women in self-employment. No impacts are found for household per capita calorie and protein availability, also treated as endogenous. Overall, the results suggest that health matters for productivity in poor urban environments, with these effects depending on gender and the sector of employment or type of work.