The problems of teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and the high rates of other sexually transmitted diseases among youth have lead to widespread concern with the sexual behaviors of teenagers. Alcohol use is one of the most commonly cited correlates of risky sexual behavior. The purpose of this research...

The increased prevalence of obesity in the United States stresses the pressing need for answers as to why this rapid rise has occurred. This paper employs micro-level data from the First, Second, and Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys to determine the effects that various...

In this survey of recent research in health economics, I concentrate on studies that have appeared since 1971 or are in progress. The survey reflects in part my own research interests and biases and is not meant to be comprehensive. Four topics are covered: (1) demand for adults' health and...

The basic purpose of our research is to contribute to an understanding of the joint determination of children's cognitive development and their health. Although there is a large literature concerning the first of these issues, there has been little work on the latter. We also explore...

An assessment of the efficiency of Federally funded community health centers (CHCs) in delivering ambulatory medical care to poverty populations reveals that the centers' input decisions reflect departures from cost-minimizing behavior. In particular, they employ too few physician aids (nurses...

This study focuses on the effects of variations in alcoholic beverage prices among states of the United States on violence on college campuses. The principal hypothesis tested is that the incidence of violence is negatively related to the price of alcohol. This hypothesis is derived from two...

This paper exploits a natural experiment to estimate the causal impact of parental education on child health in Taiwan. In 1968, the Taiwanese government extended compulsory education from six to nine years. From that year through 1973, the government opened 254 new junior high schools, an 80...

This paper makes contributions to the estimation of health production functions and the economics of fertility control. We present the first infant health production functions that simultaneously control for self selection in the resolution of pregnancies as live births or induced abortions and...

This paper concentrates on both the positive and normative effects of punishments that enforce laws to make production and consumption of particular goods illegal, with illegal drugs as the main example. Optimal public expenditures on apprehension and conviction of illegal suppliers obviously...

In this paper we summarize research that deals with the effects of alcoholic beverage prices and excise taxes on a variety of outcomes for youth. These include alcohol consumption, excessive consumption, motor vehicle accident mortality, and college completion rates. The research employs six...