Christine Le Clainche

Chronic Illnesses and Injuries: An Evaluation of their Impact on Occupation and Revenues

This paper investigates whether chronic illnesses and injuries have a significant impact on the individual’s performance in the labor market. We use the “Santé et Itinéraires Professionnels�? (SIP, “Health and Labor Market Histories�?) survey, conducted in France in 2006-2007. We use the propensity score method in order to evaluate the impact of chronic illnesses and accidents on labor market participation and earnings. We find that both health events have a negative effect on professional careers and earnings, and that accidents have a greater impact on women’s earnings.

Responsibility-sensitive fairness in health financing: judgments in four European countries.

Risky health behaviours substantially increase medical and social costs. We document the extent to which a sample of European students (from Denmark, France, Italy and Sweden) consider that individuals should assume the financial burden of paying the costs of risky behaviour. We test the acceptability of different ways of financing costs because of ill health that is more or less associated with risky behaviour in accordance with a normative framework relating to responsibility-sensitive fairness. We find that the majority of students agree with assuming financial responsibility for risky behaviours and that there should be compensation for unfavourable circumstances. Students agree that two individuals with the same responsibility variables should make an equal financial contribution and that more effort in maintaining health for given circumstances should be rewarded with a lower financial contribution. The specific health context and the type of risky behaviours involved matter in determining perceptions of justice in health financing.