J. Paul Leigh

Schooling, Self-Selection, and Health.

Economists have long realized that schooling and good health are strongly positively correlated. Some conclude that schooling has a direct positive effect on the production of good health while others argue that some unobserved variable such as rate of time discount positively affects both health and schooling. This study investigates the validity of alternative explanations for the observed schooling-health correlation. Models are estimated using four different measures of overall health: disability, functional limitations, and systolic and diastolic blood pressures. The results uniformly indicate that the direct effect of schooling on health is more important than the effect of unobservables.

An estimate of the U.S. Government's undercount of nonfatal occupational injuries.

Learning ObjectivesEstimate how many workers—and in which occupations—are presently excluded from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Annual Survey of Occupational Illnesses and Injuries.Consider possible reasons for under-reporting of injuries by private firms and their employees.Provide the best estimate of the degree of under-reporting, and note the possible consequences for workers’ health. Debate surrounds the size of the underestimate of nonfatal occupational injuries produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). We developed models that separated categories of injuries: BLS Annual Survey, federal government, agriculture, state and local government, self-employed outside agriculture, and all other. The models generated varying estimates depending on the assumptions for each category pertaining to job risks and amount of underreporting. We offered justification for the assumptions based on published studies as well as our own analyses of BLS data. The models suggested the Annual Survey missed from 0% to 70% of the number of injuries (from private firms, excluding the self-employed) it was designed to capture. However, when we included firms and governments the Annual Survey was not designed to capture, and considered reasonable assumptions regarding underreporting, we estimated the BLS missed between 33% and 69% of all injuries. We concluded that there was substantial undercapture in the BLS Annual Survey, some due to the excluded categories of government workers and the self-employed, as well as some due to underreporting.

The effects of unemployment and the business cycle on absenteeism

Abstract This study, apparently the first of its kind, looks at the relation between unemployment and absenteeism. It is hypothesized that high unemployment is associated with low absenteeism for two reasons: (1) when unemployment is high, layoffs are high and workers laid off are more likely to have been absence-prone than retained workers, and (2) when unemployment is high, currently employed workers, fearing job loss, will avoid absences to decrease their chances of becoming unemployed. Data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics support both hypotheses.

The effect of alcohol use on wages

(1988). The effect of alcohol use on wages. Applied Economics: Vol. 20, No. 10, pp. 1343-1351.

Direct and indirect effects of education on health.

In virtually every study by economists considering the determinants of an individuals health, years of schooling has stood out as an important regressor. Yet there is little agreement among economists concerning the mechanisms through which schooling affects health. This study is a first attempt to test for the direct and indirect effects of education on an individuals health. Education is assumed to enhance health directly by, for example, allowing wise use of medical care and indirectly through encouraging healthy habits and caution in the choice of occupation. Evidence from two national surveys indicates that the indirect dominate the direct effects.

Cigarette Prices, Smoking, and the Poor: Implications of Recent Trends

OBJECTIVE We examined the relationship between smoking participation and cigarette pack price by income group and time period to determine role of cigarette prices in income-related disparities in smoking in the United States. METHODS We used data from the 1984-2004 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys linked to information on cigarette prices to examine the adjusted prevalence of smoking participation and smoking participation-cigarette pack price elasticity (change in percentage of persons smoking relative to a 1% change in cigarette price) by income group (lowest income quartile [lower] vs all other quartiles [higher]) and time period (before vs after the Master Settlement Agreement [MSA]). RESULTS Increased real cigarette-pack price over time was associated with a marked decline in smoking among higher-income but not among lower-income persons. Although the pre-MSA association between cigarette pack price and smoking revealed a larger elasticity in the lower- versus higher-income persons (-0.45 vs -0.22), the post-MSA association was not statistically significant (P>.2) for either income group. CONCLUSIONS Despite cigarette price increases after the MSA, income-related smoking disparities have increased. Increasing cigarette prices may no longer be an effective policy tool and may impose a disproportionate burden on poor smokers.

Costs of occupational injuries in agriculture

Objective. This study was conducted to estimate the costs of job-related injuries in agriculture in the United States for 1992. Methods. The authors reviewed data from national surveys to assess the incidence of fatal and non-fatal farm injuries. Numerical adjustments were made for weaknesses in the most reliable data sets. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Annual Survey estimate of non-fatal injuries is adjusted upward by a factor of 4.7 to reflect the BLS undercount of farm injuries. To assess costs, the authors used the human capital method that allocates costs to direct categories such as medical expenses, as well as indirect categories such as lost earnings, lost home production, and lost fringe benefits. Cost data were drawn from the Health Care Financing Administration and the National Council on Compensation Insurance. Results. Eight hundred forty-one (841) deaths and 512,539 non-fatal injuries are estimated for 1992. The non-fatal injuries include 281,896 that led to at least one full day of work loss. Agricultural occupational injuries cost an estimated

The effects of union membership on absence from work due to illness

4.57 billion (range

Schooling and Frailty among Seniors.

3.14 billion to

The impact of pediatric intensive care unit volume on mortality: a hierarchical instrumental variable analysis.

13.99 billion) in 1992. On a per person basis, farming contributes roughly 30% more than the national average to occupational injury costs. Direct costs are estimated to be