Is BMI related to hours of work through marriage market mechanisms? We empirically explore this issue using data from the NLSY79 and NLSY97 and a number of estimation strategies (including OLS, IV, and sibling FE). Our IV estimates (with same-sex sibling's BMI as an instrument and a large set of...

In this paper we build and estimate a structural labor supply model that explicitly models the budget constraint facing mentally ill individuals eligible for SSI benefits. Our results suggest that the labor supply behavior of this group is not very responsive to wage changes. This suggests that...

Using several waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), this study analyzes the effect of long work hours on health and lifestyles in a sample of 18- to 65-year-old Chinese workers. Although working long hours does significantly increase the probabilities of high blood pressure and...

Consumer bankruptcy is one of the largest social insurance programs in the United States, but little is known about its impact on debtors. We use 500,000 bankruptcy filings matched to administrative tax and foreclosure data to estimate the impact of Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection on subsequent...

We use new PSID data on consumption and health, along with information on annual sick time, to estimate a structural labor supply model that incorporates a health capital stock with the traditional human capital learning-by-doing model. The estimates show strong evidence of learning by doing as...

The substantial increase in female employment rates in Europe over the past two decades has often been linked in political and public rhetoric to negative effects on child development, including obesity. We analyse this association between maternal employment and childhood obesity using rich...

This paper examines the short- and medium-term effects of the PensionDanmark Health Scheme, the largest privately administered health program for workers in Denmark, which provides prevention and early management of work-related injuries. We use a difference-in-differences approach that exploits...

Previous studies have found adverse effects of maternal employment on child obesity for higher educated mothers. Using a quasi-structural model, we find additionally a lower risk of obesity for children of less educated mothers with increased time in non-parental childcare.

How does working in old age affect health status? We examine the impacts of the working hours of elderly Japanese men on their health outcome, taking into account an endogeneity between work and health. Utilizing panel data on the Japanese elderly, we found that while Japanese elderly males...