Improving early prenatal and postnatal conditions account for at least 16% to 17% of the decline in ten-year mortality rates of 60-79-year-olds between 1900 and 1960-1980. Historical trends in early prenatal and postnatal conditions imply that while the baby-boom cohort may be particularly...

This paper exploits a major mid-1990s expansion in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health care system to provide evidence on the labor market effects of expanding health insurance availability. Using data from the Current Population Survey, we employ a difference-in-differences strategy...

The move toward universal health coverage in the United States is likely to impact the labor force deci­sions of older workers, but the size and direction of the effect is unclear. On the one hand, access to affordable insurance that is not tied to an employer may reduce work by encouraging...

For the U.S. Medicare population as a whole, previous studies show that additional medical spending at the margin is ineffective. For the elderly population overall, higher spending on health care does not appear to improve health outcomes or quality of life. The Medicaid literature, however,...

As baby boomers reach retirement age, demographic pressures on public programs may cause policy makers to cut benefits and encourage employment at later ages. But how much demand exists for older workers? This paper reports on a field experiment to determine hiring conditions for older women in...

This paper briefly discusses the history, benefits, and shortcomings of traditional audit field experiments to study market discrimination. Specifically it identifies template bias and experimenter bias as major concerns in the traditional audit method and demonstrates through an empirical...

As the baby boom cohort reaches retirement age, demographic pressures on public programs such as social security may cause policy makers to cut benefits and encourage employment at later ages. This paper reports on a labor market experiment to determine the hiring conditions for older women in...

This paper exploits a major mid-1990s expansion in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health care system to provide evidence on two important and interrelated U.S. policy issues: retirement policy and universal health care. Using data from the Current Population Survey, we compare the labor...

This paper exploits a major mid-1990s expansion in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health care system to provide evidence on the labor market effects of expanding health insurance availability. Using data from the Current Population Survey, we compare the labor market behavior of older...