02424cam a22002657 4500001000700000003000500007005001700012008004100029100001600070245012300086260006600209490004200275500001700317520129800334530006101632538007201693538003601765690005501801690008501856700002301941710004201964830007702006856003802083856003702121w12466NBER20141228185822.0141228s2006 mau||||fs|||| 000 0 eng d1 aCase, Anne.10aStature and Statush[electronic resource]:bHeight, Ability, and Labor Market Outcomes /cAnne Case, Christina Paxson. aCambridge, Mass.bNational Bureau of Economic Researchc2006.1 aNBER working paper seriesvno. w12466 aAugust 2006.3 aIt has long been recognized that taller adults hold jobs of higher status and, on average, earn more than other workers. A large number of hypotheses have been put forward to explain the association between height and earnings. In developed countries, researchers have emphasized factors such as self esteem, social dominance, and discrimination. In this paper, we offer a simpler explanation: On average, taller people earn more because they are smarter. As early as age 3 -- before schooling has had a chance to play a role -- and throughout childhood, taller children perform significantly better on cognitive tests. The correlation between height in childhood and adulthood is approximately 0.7 for both men and women, so that tall children are much more likely to become tall adults. As adults, taller individuals are more likely to select into higher paying occupations that require more advanced verbal and numerical skills and greater intelligence, for which they earn handsome returns. Using four data sets from the US and the UK, we find that the height premium in adult earnings can be explained by childhood scores on cognitive tests. Furthermore, we show that taller adults select into occupations that have higher cognitive skill requirements and lower physical skill demands. aHardcopy version available to institutional subscribers. aSystem requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files. aMode of access: World Wide Web. 7aI1 - Health2Journal of Economic Literature class. 7aJ3 - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs2Journal of Economic Literature class.1 aPaxson, Christina.2 aNational Bureau of Economic Research. 0aWorking Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research)vno. w12466.4 uhttp://www.nber.org/papers/w1246641uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.3386/w12466