We examine whether genome-wide summary measures of genetic risk known as polygenic indices (PGIs) provide new insights into the efficacy of the Lung Health Study (LHS)-a large, randomized controlled trial (RCT) that evaluated the effect of a smoking cessation intervention program on cessation...

We use a unique data set of linked birth records from Florida to analyze the intergenerational transmission of health at birth by parental gender. We show that both paternal and maternal birth weights significantly predict the child's birth weight, even after accounting for all genetic and...

This paper introduces four new intergenerational and multigenerational datasets which follow both sons and daughters and which can be used to study the persistence of longevity, socioeconomic status, family structure, and geographic mobility across generations. The data follow the children of...

We develop a pair of risk measures, health and mortality delta, for the universe of life and health insurance products. A life-cycle model of insurance choice simplifies to replicating the optimal health and mortality delta through a portfolio of insurance products. We estimate the model to...

Providing and financing long-term care of the elderly are among the most challenging policy issues facing the aging American population. This study examines characteristics and selected measures of utilization in the population most likely to use long-term care. It investigates characteristics...

While state incarceration policies have received much attention in research on the causes of mass incarceration in the U.S., their roles in shaping population health and health disparities remain largely unknown. We examine the impacts of two signature state incarceration policies adopted during...

Recent research has documented a link between consumer risk preferences over health and the willingness to pay (WTP) for medical technologies. However, the absence of empirical health risk preference estimates so far limits the implementation of this generalized risk-adjusted cost-effectiveness...

A century of plastic usage has led to an accumulation of plastic waste in waterways and oceans. Over time, these wastes break down into particles smaller than 5 microns - or "microplastics" - which can infiltrate human biological systems. Despite decades of research into this emerging source of...

The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented levels of federal transfers to state and local governments. Did this funding impact population health? To answer this question, we leverage the fact that U.S. states that enjoy excess representation in Congress received substantially more fiscal...

There is much debate about the effects of pharmaceutical direct to consumer advertising (DTCA) on health care use. In this paper, we inform this debate by examining the effects of DTCA on office visits, as well as treatment courses resulting from those visits, for five common chronic conditions...