Links between women"s health and labor market outcomes in Indonesia

This paper examines the relationships between health status and economic output, focusing primarily on women. The data are drawn from the Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS), a longitudinal household survey. Four dimensions of labor market performance are examined: the decision to work, hours spent working, income earned from the prior year, and hourly earnings from work. The study adopts two complementary empirical strategies to address the empirical concerns of reverse causality and measurement error, and shows that conclusions about whether health affects labor outcomes are very sensitive to these concerns. On balance, the evidence points to a causal effect of women"s weight on earnings and that labor supply is curtailed among women who have difficulties with physical activities like walking a long distance and carrying a heavy load. (Author abstract, modified)