Prescription drug expenditures are the fastest growing component of health care spending, rising threefold over the 1995–2007 period. Coinciding with this growth has been a surge in direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA), made feasible by the Food and Drug Administrations's (FDA's)...

It is recognized that public health intervention targeted toward changing lifestyle behaviors to reduce overweight status is a considerable challenge. It is important that individuals recognize their overweight status as a health risk in order for an effective change in lifestyle behaviors to...

Adolescents with mental health problems have much higher rates of smoking than those without such problems. Although a large body of evidence suggests that higher cigarette prices reduce smoking prevalence and the quantity smoked, little is known about the interaction between mental health or...

Most parents divide their bequests equally among their children, whereas inter-vivos transfers are usually unequal. We propose that exchange is better for inducing inter-vivos transfers than bequests. Inter-vivos transfers can be adjusted quickly to the amount of care, are less costly than...

Recent studies in the public health literature and a June 2006 Surgeon General's report have cited a link between exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke and childhood asthma. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, this paper explores the sensitivity of this relationship to...

We examine how undesirable juvenile behavior is related to the structure and quality of home life. In homes with both own-parents or one parent and another adult partner, we distinguish among unhappy, moderately happy, and very happy relationships for the adults. Single-parents are treated as...

Teen mothers in the United States are more likely to give birth to low birth weight babies. Substantial evidence indicates that smoking is a risk factor correlated with low birth weight. Low birth weight is a costly outcome for parents, children, and society at large. This paper examines the...

We estimate the effects of having a child in poor health on the mother's receipt of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and public support in the form of food (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children [WIC] or food...

We examine linkages between disability and the returns to education for males, incorporating the role that age of disability onset may play in these returns. Our analyses are based on the 1993 Panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation and exploit detailed information regarding...

The shortage of cadaveric human organs made available for transplantation has reached critical proportions and is now causing over 6000 deaths each year in the United States alone. Economically, this shortage appears to stem from at least two principal underlying causes, both of which are...