Tracy L. Regan

Tax Incentives as a Solution to the Uninsured: Evidence from the Self-Employed

Between 1996 and 2003, a series of amendments were made to the Tax Reform Act of 1986 that gradually increased the tax deduction for health insurance purchases by the self-employed (SE) from 25 to 100 percent. We study how these changes have influenced the likelihood that a SE person has health insurance coverage as the policyholder. The Current Population Survey is used to construct a data set corresponding to 1995–2005. Both the difference-in-differences and price elasticity of demand estimates suggest that the series of tax deductions did not provide sufficient incentives for the SE to obtain health insurance coverage.

Relative Deprivation and Risky Behaviors

Relative deprivation has been associated with lower social and job satisfaction as well as adverse health outcomes. Using Add Health data, we examine whether a student’s relative socioeconomic status (SES) has a direct effect on substance use. We advance the existing literature by addressing selection and simultaneity bias and by focusing on a reference group likely to exert the most influence on the respondents. We find that relative deprivation is positively associated with alcohol consumption, drinking to intoxication, and smoking for adolescent males, but not for females. Alternative variable definitions and robustness checks confirm these findings.

Evaluation of a fitness intervention for new firefighters: injury reduction and economic benefits

Background Firefighting is a hazardous profession and firefighters suffer workplace injury at a higher rate than most US workers. Decreased physical fitness is associated with injury in firefighters. A physical fitness intervention was implemented among Tucson Fire Department recruit firefighters with the goals of decreasing injury and compensation claims frequency and costs during the recruit academy, and over the subsequent probationary year. Methods Department injury records were analysed and described by body part, injury type and mechanism of injury. Injury and workers’ compensation claims outcomes from the recruit academy initiation through the 12-month probationary period for the intervention recruit class were compared with controls from three historical classes. Results The majority of injuries were sprains and strains (65.4%), the most common mechanism of injury was acute overexertion (67.9%) and the lower extremity was the most commonly affected body region (61.7%). The intervention class experienced significantly fewer injuries overall and during the probationary year (p=0.009), filed fewer claims (p=0.028) and experienced claims cost savings of approximately US

Generic entry, price competition, and market segmentation in the prescription drug market

33 000 (2013) from avoided injury and reduced claims costs. The estimated costs for programme implementation were

Work Experience as a Source of Specification Error in Earnings Models: Implications for Gender Wage Decompositions

32 192 leading to a 1-year return on investment of 2.4%. Conclusions We observed reductions in injury occurrence and compensation costs among Probationary Firefighter Fitness (PFF-Fit) programme participants compared with historical controls. The initiation of the PFF-Fit programme has demonstrated promise in reducing injury and claims costs; however, continued research is needed to better understand the programmes potential effectiveness with additional recruit classes and carryover effects into the recruits career injury potential.