Chapter 50 Health, health insurance and the labor market

Janet Currie, Brigitte C. Madrian

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

501 Scopus citations

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the literature linking health, health insurance and labor market outcomes such as wages, earnings, employment, hours, occupational choice, job turnover, retirement, and the structure of employment. The first part of the paper focuses on the relationship between health and labor market outcomes. The empirical literature surveyed suggests that poor health reduces the capacity to work and has substantive effects on wages, labor force participation and job choice. The exact magnitudes, however, are sensitive to both the choice of health measures and to identification assumptions. The second part of the paper considers the link between health insurance and labor market outcomes. The empirical literature here suggests that access to health insurance has important effects on both labor force participation and job choice; the link between health insurance and wages is less clear.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3309-3416
Number of pages108
JournalHandbook of Labor Economics
Volume3 PART
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 1999
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Business and International Management
  • Economics and Econometrics
  • Economics, Econometrics and Finance (miscellaneous)
  • Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Chapter 50 Health, health insurance and the labor market'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this