Duke 2008 | ASHE | Equity and Efficiency in Health and Healthcare

In this paper, I take a structural approach and explore the potential mechanisms through which changes in economic activity may affect health behaviors. Specifically, I examine the effect of wages and working hours on health behaviors using the variation in these factors caused by changes in local economic activity. I find that low-educated males are more likely to smoke, and less likely to binge drink and engage in physical activity when they experience increases in working hours caused by economic expansions. Findings are robust across a wide array of alternative specifications and sensitivity analysis.