Several studies have demonstrated that universal helmet laws (UHLs) and other motor vehicle policies are effective in reducing fatal and non-fatal motorcycle injuries. Although state policies can improve traffic safety overall, very little is known about how they affect different segments of...

The effects of business cycles on health outcomes in general, and on traffic fatalities in particular, have received much attention recently. In this paper, we focus on motorcycle safety and examine the impact of changing levels of economic activity on fatal crashes by motorcyclists in the...

Few studies have examined the relationships between drug use, health services utilization and the cost of medical care for a community-based sample of drug users. The purpose of this study was to analyze recently collected data on chronic drug users (CDUs), CDUs who were also injecting drug...

One of the most publicized and controversial issues in the food industry today is whether or not food labels convey the appropriate product information to consumers. This study models firms' response to labeling mandates and estimates the costs to the food industry of new or revised labeling...

Using abstracted grades and other data from Add Health, we investigate the effects of cumulative high school GPA on educational attainment and labor market earnings among a sample of young adults (ages 24-34). We estimate several models with an extensive list of control variables and high school...

This paper examines the effects of alcohol use on high school students' quality of learning. We estimate fixed-effects models using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Our primary measure of academic achievement is the student's grade point average (GPA) abstracted...

We investigate the effect of speaking Spanish at home as a child on completed schooling and aptitude test scores using data on Hispanics who grew up in the U.S. from the NLSY79. We model the accumulation of traditional human capital and English fluency, leading to the joint determination of...

Relative deprivation, as measured by one?s socioeconomic status (SES) compared to that of a relevant peer group, has been associated with lower life and job satisfaction, as well as with adverse physical and mental health outcomes. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent...

Objective: Alcohol misuse by parents can affect the demand for children’s health care in a number of different ways. The primary objective of this study is to estimate the impact that high-intensity drinkers have on their children’s use of pediatric visits and ER care. Method: We use a...