In2001, a study of 120 dancers in New York found that relaxation and enjoyment were their main reasons for indulging. (Weight controlwas one of the least-cited reasons).
Professors Nachum Sicherman (CBS) and Lalith Munasinghe (Barnard) recently put this in economic terms: time preference.Dancers, like most professionals with low wage growth, often chooseimmediate gratification over future effects.
According to the researchers’ study — which won the 2006 Eckstein Prize — people who are less future oriented (i.e. have a higherdiscount rate) are less likely to invest in human capital and hencemore likely to select into careers with lower and flatter earningsprofiles.
The gross hourly pay is substantially lower forsmokers compared to nonsmokers. On average, the nonsmoker wagepremium is more than 15 percent.
The authors posit that dancers smoke because they are more present-oriented.
More...