Sleep and earnings

Sleep and Earnings is the relationship between how much Sleep a person gets and their earnings as defined by wage.
Relationship between Sunlight, Sleep, and Wages
In 2015, economists Matthew Gibson and Jeffrey Shrader discovered a direct link between the hours of sleep an individual receives and the short, and long-term earnings of that individual. A previous study done in 2008 by another economist, Dan Hamermesh, had already shown the relationship between earlier sunsets and earlier bedtimes. Building off this study, Gibson and Shrader compared locations that share the same time zone, but are located farther east or west of each other, meaning they have different sunset times. Consequently, residents of the more eastern location will sleep longer than those of the western location. A similar phenomenon can be observed in the short run using the sunset variation that occurs in winter when the earlier sunset causes longer sleep duration.
By comparing these differing locations with data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), Gibson and Shrader discovered that in a one year period, a one-hour increase in sunset time decreases worker wages by 0.5%, while a one-hour difference in long-run average sunset time decreases worker wages by 4.5%. Conversely, a one-hour increase in average weekly sleep increases worker wages by 1.5% and a permanent one-hour increase in weekly average sleep increases average wage by 4.9%. In an article published in New York Times, it was reported that prior to 1879, most people slept an average of 10 hours a night. That amount has gradually reduced over time.
A study published in the New York Times found that “people who work more, and earn more for it, often sleep less.” Perhaps due to the higher opportunity cost of sacrificing work time for sleep.
Possible Causes
While the relationship between sleep and earnings is statistically significant, it is still unclear as to why this correlation exists. Possible explanations include the effects of sleep deprivation on memory retention, ability to interact with others, impaired motor skills, increased risk taking behavior, higher levels of neuroticism
Long-term health effects linked to sleep deprivation include hypertension, heart disease, weight gain, diabetes, mental health issues, memory loss, immune system deficiencies and decreased fertility. One study produced in 2014 found that of the fifteen leading causes of mortality in the United States, seven were linked to severe sleep deprivation.
Sleep and GDP
These effects on individual sleep and earnings have an impact on a national or global scale especially when it comes to the cost of sleep deprivation. In a recent study by the Rand Corporation, they found that among five OECD countries approximately $680.4 Billion is lost annually due to costs associated with lack of sleep.
The United States has the highest loss of up to $411 billion a year, followed by Japan ($138 billion), Germany ($60 billion), the United Kingdom ($50 billion), and Canada ($21.4 billion). Illness results in higher work absences. When sleep deprivation is persistent in children, a potential outcome is reduced work performance, which results in a lower skilled future labor force.<ref name=pmid28983434/>

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