Healthy habits and the labor market: a quantile analysis for Brazil

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20947/S0102-3098a0304

Keywords:

Physical activities, Healthy habits, Labor market, Income from work, Quantile regression

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the effects of healthy behaviors on labor earnings in Brazil. Using data from the 2019 National Health Survey, conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, we construct indicator variables for these behaviors and include them in the estimation of a labor earnings equation. Regressions are performed both at the mean and across quantiles of the income distribution, applying the correction to account for potential sample selection bias. On average, the results suggest a negative relationship between physical activity and healthy habits with labor earnings in Brazil. This finding stems from the construction of physical activity variables, which encompass not only leisure-time exercise but also work-related, domestic, and commuting activities. Additionally, dietary and health care habits are not prominent among higher income groups.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Rafael Mesquita Pereira, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande - FURG

Rafael Mesquita Pereira is PhD in Applied Economics from the "Luiz de Queiroz" College of Agriculture at the University of São Paulo (ESALQ/USP). Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Economic, Administrative and Accounting Sciences (ICEAC) and faculty member of the Postgraduate Program in Applied Economics (PPGE) at the Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG).

Lívia Madeira Triaca, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande

Lívia Madeira Triaca is PhD in Development Economics from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUC – RS). Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Economic, Administrative and Accounting Sciences (ICEAC) at the Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG) and faculty member of the Postgraduate Program in Organizations and Markets (PPGOM) at the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPEL).

Cristiano Aguiar de Oliveira, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande

Cristiano Aguiar de Oliveira is PhD in Applied Economics from Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Associate Professor at the Institute of Economic, Administrative and Accounting Sciences (ICEAC) and faculty member of the Postgraduate Program in Applied Economics (PPGE) at the Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG).

Guilherme da Fonseca Vilela, Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul (UFFS)

Bacharel em Medicina na Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul (UFFS) e Mestre em Educação Física pela Universidade Federal de Pelotas.

References

ALMEIDA, A. T. C. de; ARAÚJO Jr., I. T. de. Smoking and wage penalty in the Brazilian labor market. Economia Aplicada, v. 21, n. 2, p. 249-276, 11 abr. 2017.

AN, R.; LIU, J. Local labor market fluctuations and physical activity among adults in the United States, 1990-2009. International Scholarly Research Notices, v. 2012, Article ID 318610, 2012.

ARELLANO, M.; BONHOMME, S. Quantile selection models with an application to understanding changes in wage inequality. Econometrica, v. 85, n. 1, p. 1-28, 2017.

BAI, Y.; GRIGNON, M. Why do drinkers earn more? Job characteristics as a possible link. Health Economics, v. 33, n. 6, p. 1133-1152, 2024.

BENEDETTI, T. R. B. et al. Validade e clareza dos conceitos e terminologias do Guia de Atividade Física para a População Brasileira. Revista Brasileira de Atividade Física & Saúde, v. 26, p. 1-11, 2021.

BHATTACHARYA, J.; HYDE, T.; TU, P. Health economics. [S.l.]: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014.

BIEWEN, M.; ERHARDT, P. arhomme: an implementation of the Arellano and Bonhomme (2017) estimator for quantile regression with selection correction. The Stata Journal: Promoting Communications on Statistics and Stata, v. 21, n. 3, p. 602-625, set. 2021.

BLAIR, S. N. et al. How much physical activity is good for health? Annual Review of Public Health, v. 13, p. 99-126, 1992.

BÖCKERMAN, P. et al. If you drink, don’t smoke: joint associations between risky health behaviors and labor market outcomes. Social Science & Medicine, v. 207, p. 55-63, 2018.

BÖCKERMAN, P.; HYYTINEN, A.; MACZULSKIJ, T. Alcohol consumption and long-term labor market outcomes. Health Economics, v. 26, n. 3, p. 275-291, 2017.

CAMERON, A. C.; TRIVEDI, P. K. Microeconometrics: methods and applications. [S.l.]: Cambridge University Press, 2005.

CASE, A.; DEATON, A. Broken down by work and sex: how our health declines. [S.l.]: National Bureau of Economic Research Cambridge, MA, 2003.

CAWLEY, J.; RUHM, C. J. The economics of risky health behaviors. In: PAULY, M. V.; MCGUIRE, T. G.; BARROS, P. P. (Ed.). Handbook of health economics. [S.l.]: Elsevier, 2011. v. 2, p. 95-199.

COELHO, D.; VESZTEG, R.; SOARES, F. V. Regressão quantílica com correção para a seletividade amostral: estimativa dos retornos educacionais e diferenciais raciais na distribuição de salários das mulheres no Brasil. Brasília: Ipea, 2010. (Texto para Discussão, 1483). Available in: https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/91273. Access in: 21 jul. 2024.

CONTOYANNIS, P.; RICE, N. The impact of health on wages: evidence from the British Household Panel Survey. Empirical Economics, v. 26, n. 4, p. 599-622, 2001.

CRUZ, D. K. A. et al. Iniquidades socioeconômicas associadas aos diferentes domínios da atividade física: resultados da Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde 2019. Epidemiologia e Serviços de Saúde, v. 31, n. especia1, e2021398, 2022.

CURRIE, J.; MADRIAN, B. C. Health, health insurance and the labor market. In: ASHENFELTER, O.; CARD, D. (Ed.). Handbook of labor economics. [S.l.]: Elsevier, 1999. v. 3, p. 3309-3416.

CUTLER, D. M.; LLERAS-MUNEY, A. Understanding differences in health behaviors by education. Journal of Health Economics, v. 29, n. 1, p. 1-28, 2010.

DANG, A.; MAITRA, P.; MENON, N. Labor market engagement and the body mass index of working adults: evidence from India. Economics & Human Biology, v. 33, p. 58-77, 2019.

FRENCH, M. T.; ZARKIN, G. A. Is moderate alcohol use related to wages? Evidence from four worksites. Journal of Health Economics, v. 14, n. 3, p. 319-344, 1995.

GODOY, M. R.; TRICHES, D. Effects of physical activity on earnings in the Brazilian labor market. EconomiA, v. 18, n. 2, p. 180-191, 2017.

GROSSMAN, M. Health capital and the demand for health. Journal of Political Economy, v. 80, n. 2, p. 223-255, 1972.

GROSSMAN, M. The human capital model. In: CULYER, A.; NEWHOUSE, J. (Ed.). Handbook of health economics. [S.l.]: Elsevier, 2000. v. 1, p. 347-408.

HALLAL, P. C. et al. Physical inactivity: prevalence and associated variables in Brazilian adults. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, v. 35, n. 11, p. 1894-1900, 2003.

HAMMOND, R. A.; LEVINE, R. The economic impact of obesity in the United States. Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy, v. 3, p. 285-–295, Aug. 2010.

HECKMAN, J. J. Sample selection bias as a specification error. Econometrica: Journal of the Econometric Society, v. 47, n. 1. p. 153-161, 1979.

IBGE – Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde 2013: percepção do estado de saúde, estilos de vida e doenças crônicas. Brasil, grandes regiões e unidades da federação. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE, 2014.

IBGE – Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. PNS – Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde 2019. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE, 2021. Available in: https://www.ibge.gov.br/estatisticas/sociais/trabalho/9160-pesquisa-nacional-de-saude.html?edicao=30563. Access in: 2 May 2025.

IHME – Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 (GBD 2019) Data Resources | GHDx. Available in: https://ghdx.healthdata.org/gbd-2019. Access in: 2 May 2025.

JOHANSSON, E. et al. The association of alcohol dependency with employment probability: evidence from the population survey ‘Health 2000 in Finland’. Health Economics, v. 16, n. 7, p. 739-754, 2007.

KAISER, H. F. The varimax criterion for analytic rotation in factor analysis. Psychometrika, v. 23, n. 3, p. 187-200, 1958.

KARI, J. Lifelong physical activity and long-term labor market outcomes. Jyväskylä, Finland: University of Jyväskylä, 2018. (Jyväskylä Studies in Business and Economics, n. 184).

KOSTEAS, V. D. The effect of exercise on earnings: evidence from the NLSY. Journal of Labor Research, v. 33, n. 2, p. 225-250, 2012.

KRINSKI, K. et al. Efeitos do exercício físico no sistema imunológico. Revista Brasileira de Medicina, v. 67, n. 7, 2010.

LECHNER, M. Sports, exercise, and labor market outcomes. IZA World of Labor, 2015.

LECHNER, M.; SARI, N. Labor market effects of sports and exercise: evidence from Canadian panel data. Labour Economics, v. 35, p. 1-15, 2015.

LEE, L.-F. Identification and estimation in binary choice models with limited (censored) dependent variables. Econometrica: Journal of the Econometric Society, v. 47, n. 4, p. 977-996, 1979.

LIN, X. et al. Leisure time physical activity and cardio-metabolic health: results from the Brazilian Longitudinal study of adult health (ELSA-Brasil). Journal of the American Heart Association, v. 5, n. 6, e003337, 2016.

MACDONALD, Z.; SHIELDS, M. A. The impact of alcohol consumption on occupational attainment in England. Economica, v. 68, n. 271, p. 427-453, 2001.

MADDALA, G. S. Limited-dependent and qualitative variables in econometrics. [S.l.]: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

MAHALIK, J. R.; BURNS, S. M.; SYZDEK, M. Masculinity and perceived normative health behaviors as predictors of men’s health behaviors. Social Science & Medicine, v. 64, n. 11, p. 2201-2209, 2007.

MINCER, J. A study of personal income distribution. [S.l.]: Columbia University, 1957.

MORRIS, S. The impact of obesity on employment. Labour Economics, v. 14, n. 3, p. 413-433, 2007.

MUTH, A.-K.; PARK, S. Q. The impact of dietary macronutrient intake on cognitive function and the brain. Clinical Nutrition, v. 40, n. 6, p. 3999-4010, 2021.

PEREIRA, R. M.; ALMEIDA, A. N. de; OLIVEIRA, C. A. de. O valor estatístico de uma vida: estimativas para o Brasil. Estudos Econômicos, v. 50, p. 227-259, 2020.

PEREIRA, R. M.; OLIVEIRA, C. A. de. Os diferenciais de salário por gênero no Rio Grande do Sul: uma aplicação do modelo de Heckman e da decomposição de Oaxaca-Blinder. Redes, v. 21, n. 1, p. 148-173, 2016.

PEREIRA, R. M.; OLIVEIRA, C. A. de. Discriminação por gênero no mercado de trabalho local: um estudo para os municípios do Rio Grande do Sul. Análise Econômica, ano. 35, n. 68, p. 87-116, 2017.

PEREIRA, R. M.; OLIVEIRA, C. A. de; MACHADO, G. C. Uma nota sobre o valor estatístico de uma vida por grupos etários e por idade: evidências a partir da teoria do ciclo de vida para o Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Economia, v. 77, e192023, 2023.

PEREIRA, R. M.; TRIACA, L. M.; OLIVEIRA, C. A.; VILELA, G. F. Hábitos saudáveis e mercado de trabalho: uma análise quantílica para o Brasil. In: 52o ENCONTRO NACIONAL DE ECONOMIA. Anais […]. Natal-RN: Anpec, 2024.

ROOTH, D.-O. Obesity, attractiveness, and differential treatment in hiring: a field experiment. Journal of Human Resources, v. 44, n. 3, p. 710-735, 2009.

ROOTH, D.-O. Work out or out of work – the labor market return to physical fitness and leisure sports activities. Labour Economics, v. 18, n. 3, p. 399-409, 2011.

SILVEIRA, L. S.; LEÃO, N. S. Segregação ocupacional e diferenciais de renda por gênero e raça no Brasil: uma análise de grupos etários. Revista Brasileira de Estudos de População, v. 38, e0151, 2021.

SLAVIN, J. L.; LLOYD, B. Health benefits of fruits and vegetables. Advances in Nutrition, v. 3, n. 4, p. 506-516, 2012.

SOARES, L. de S. A.; DALBONI, F. M.; TEIXEIRA, E. C. Capital social e felicidade individual no Brasil. Economia Aplicada, v. 26, n. 3, p. 247-274, 2022.

TAUCHMANN, H. Consistency of Heckman-type two-step estimators for the multivariate sample-selection model. Applied Economics, v. 42, n. 30, p. 3895-3902, 2010.

TERZA, J. V. Alcohol abuse and employment: a second look. Journal of Applied Econometrics, v. 17, n. 4, p. 393-404, 2002.

TREMBLAY, M. S. et al. Sedentary behavior research network (SBRN) – terminology consensus project process and outcome. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, v. 14, Article 75, 2017.

VAN OURS, J. C. A pint a day raises a man’s pay; but smoking blows that gain away. Journal of Health Economics, v. 23, n. 5, p. 863-886, 2004.

VIEIRA, L. P.; PEREIRA, R. M. Smoking effects on labor income: new evidence for Brazil. EconomiA, v. 25, n. 1, p. 53-73, 2024.

WARDLE, J. et al. Gender differences in food choice: the contribution of health beliefs and dieting. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, v. 27, n. 2, p. 107-116, 2004.

WHO – World Health Organization. Global recommendations on physical activity for health. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2010.

WHO – World Health Organization. Global action plan for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases 2013-2020. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2013.

WHO – World Health Organization. Global status report on alcohol and health 2018. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2018.

WHO – World Health Organization. Key facts: healthy diet. Available in: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/healthy-diet. Access in: 2 May 2025.

Downloads

Published

2025-09-01

How to Cite

Pereira, R. M., Madeira Triaca, L., Aguiar de Oliveira, C., & da Fonseca Vilela, G. (2025). Healthy habits and the labor market: a quantile analysis for Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Population Studies, 42. https://doi.org/10.20947/S0102-3098a0304

Issue

Vol. 42 (2025)

Section

Original Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Brazilian Journal of Population Studies

Creative Commons License

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

Papers published in Rebep are original and protected under the Creative Commons attribution-type license (CC-BY). This license allows you to reuse publications in whole or in part for any purpose, free of charge, even for commercial purposes. Any person or institution can copy, distribute or reuse the content, as long as the author and the original source are properly mentioned.