TY - JOUR
T1 - Us employment and opioids
T2 - Is there a connection?
AU - Currie, Janet
AU - Jin, Jonas
AU - Schnell, Molly
N1 - Funding Information:
$We thank the participants at the 2017 IZA Workshop on Health and Labor Markets for their helpful feedback. We gratefully acknowledge the support from the program for US Health and Health Policy at the Center for Health and Wellbeing at Princeton University. The statements, findings, conclusions, views, and opinions contained and expressed herein are not necessarily those of IQUIA or any of its affiliated or subsidiary entities.
Funding Information:
We thank the participants at the 2017 IZA Workshop on Health and Labor Markets for their helpful feedback. We gratefully acknowledge the support from the program for US Health and Health Policy at the Center for Health and Wellbeing at Princeton University. The statements, findings, conclusions, views, and opinions contained and expressed herein are not necessarily those of IQUIA or any of its affiliated or subsidiary entities.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2019 by Emerald Publishing Limited.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - This chapter uses quarterly county-level data from 2006 to 2014 to examine the direction of causality in the relationship between per capita opioid prescription rates and employment-to-population ratios. We first estimate models of the effect of per capita opioid prescription rates on employment-to-population ratios, instrumenting opioid prescriptions for younger ages using opioid prescriptions to the elderly. We find that the estimated effect of opioids on employment-to-population ratios is positive but small for women, while there is no relationship for men. We then estimate models of the effect of employment-to-population ratios on opioid prescription rates using a shift-share instrument and find ambiguous results. Overall, our findings suggest that there is no simple causal relationship between economic conditions and the abuse of opioids. Therefore, while improving economic conditions in depressed areas is desirable for many reasons, it is unlikely on its own to curb the opioid epidemic.
AB - This chapter uses quarterly county-level data from 2006 to 2014 to examine the direction of causality in the relationship between per capita opioid prescription rates and employment-to-population ratios. We first estimate models of the effect of per capita opioid prescription rates on employment-to-population ratios, instrumenting opioid prescriptions for younger ages using opioid prescriptions to the elderly. We find that the estimated effect of opioids on employment-to-population ratios is positive but small for women, while there is no relationship for men. We then estimate models of the effect of employment-to-population ratios on opioid prescription rates using a shift-share instrument and find ambiguous results. Overall, our findings suggest that there is no simple causal relationship between economic conditions and the abuse of opioids. Therefore, while improving economic conditions in depressed areas is desirable for many reasons, it is unlikely on its own to curb the opioid epidemic.
KW - Deaths of despair
KW - Employment
KW - Labor force participation
KW - Mortality
KW - Opioids
KW - Unemployment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85067558639&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1108/S0147-912120190000047009
DO - 10.1108/S0147-912120190000047009
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85067558639
SN - 0147-9121
VL - 47
SP - 253
EP - 280
JO - Research in Labor Economics
JF - Research in Labor Economics
ER -