The effect of job loss on overweight and drinking.

TitleThe effect of job loss on overweight and drinking.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2011
AuthorsDeb, P, Gallo, WT, Ayyagari, P, Fletcher, JM, Sindelar, JL
JournalJ Health Econ
Volume30
Issue2
Pagination317-27
Date Published2011 Mar
ISSN Number1879-1646
KeywordsAlcohol Drinking, Body Mass Index, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Overweight, Unemployment, United States
Abstract

This paper examines the impact of job loss due to business closings on body mass index (BMI) and alcohol consumption. We suggest that the ambiguous findings in the extant literature may be due in part to unobserved heterogeneity in response and in part due to an overly broad measure of job loss that is partially endogenous (e.g., layoffs). We improve upon this literature using: exogenously determined business closings, a sophisticated estimation approach (finite mixture models) to deal with complex heterogeneity, and national, longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study. For both alcohol consumption and BMI, we find evidence that individuals who are more likely to respond to job loss by increasing unhealthy behaviors are already in the problematic range for these behaviors before losing their jobs. These results suggest the health effects of job loss could be concentrated among "at risk" individuals and could lead to negative outcomes for the individuals, their families, and society at large.

DOI10.1016/j.jhealeco.2010.12.009
User Guide Notes

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21288586?dopt=Abstract

Endnote Keywords

Job loss/Drinking/Business closings/Finite mixture models

Endnote ID

25370

Alternate JournalJ Health Econ
Citation Key7556
PubMed ID21288586
PubMed Central IDPMC3086369
Grant ListRL1 AA017542-02S1 / AA / NIAAA NIH HHS / United States
R01 AG027045-01 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
R01 AG027045-02 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
R01 AG027045-04 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
RL1 AA017542-01 / AA / NIAAA NIH HHS / United States
RL1 AA017542-05 / AA / NIAAA NIH HHS / United States
RL1 AA017542 / AA / NIAAA NIH HHS / United States
RL1 AA017542-04 / AA / NIAAA NIH HHS / United States
R01 AG027045 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
RL1 AA017542-03 / AA / NIAAA NIH HHS / United States
RL1 AA017542-02 / AA / NIAAA NIH HHS / United States
R01 AG027045-03 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States
RL1AA017542 / AA / NIAAA NIH HHS / United States
R01AG027045 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States