Health and earnings in a heterogeneous urban labor market : evidence from Guinea

Results of this study of urban labor markets in Guinea confirm that there are labor market advantages to improved physical well-being. Specifically, the impact of health on earnings varies according to gender of the worker and sector of the labor market: height (a cumulative measure of nutritional status) is positively associated with earnings among men who are self-employed and who work in the private sector in Conakry (height does not seem to matter for women"s earnings, possibly because female labor market activities are concentrated in retail commerce, which is not physically demanding). Also, improvements in medium-term health status (reflected in higher body mass) raise men"s private sector wages and women"s wages from self-employment. No effects of per capita household calories and protein availability on earnings were found. In terms of policy, the study demonstrates that public investments in health in low-income environments such as Guinea can serve a two-fold purpose: to directly increase the well-being of their beneficiaries, and to indirectly increase labor market incomes. This applies to investments in the health of both children (future labor market participants) and adults.