Bad lighting: Effects of youth indoor tanning prohibitions.

Indoor tanning beds (ITBs) emit UV light at high intensity and have been classified as carcinogenic to humans by the World Health Organization since 2009. We are the first to study the role of state laws prohibiting youths from indoor tanning using a difference-in-differences research design. We find that youth ITB prohibitions reduced population search intensity for tanning-related information.

Effects of the affordable care Act's Medicaid expansion on health insurance coverage for individuals in same-sex couples.

Objective: To examine whether the Affordable Care Act's (ACA's) Medicaid expansions affected health insurance coverage for individuals in same-sex couples.

Data Sources And Study Setting: We used data on adults aged 18-64 years in same-sex couples (n = 33,512) from the 2008-2018 American Community Survey (ACS).

Study Design: To estimate the effect of the impact of the state Medicaid expansions under the ACA on health insurance coverage for sexual minorities, we utilize a standard difference-in-differences approach to leverage the variation across geography and time in expanding Medicaid.

Effects of the Affordable Care Act Dependent Coverage Mandate on Health Insurance Coverage for Individuals in Same-Sex Couples.

A large body of research documents that the 2010 dependent coverage mandate of the U.S. Affordable Care Act was responsible for significantly increasing health insurance coverage among young adults.

Effects of the Colorectal Cancer Control Program.

Although colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is highly effective, screening rates lag far below recommended levels, particularly for low-income people. The Colorectal Cancer Control Program (CRCCP) funded $100 million in competitively awarded grants to 25 states from 2009-2015 to increase CRC screening rates among low-income, uninsured populations, in part by directly providing and paying for screening services. Using data from the 2001-2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and a difference-in-differences strategy, we find no effects of CRCCP on the use of relatively cheap fecal occult blood tests (FOBT).

Cigarette taxes and smoking among sexual minority adults.

We provide the first quasi-experimental evidence on the relationship between cigarette taxes and smoking among sexual minority adults, a group that has been understudied in past research. We use large samples of individuals in same-sex households (a large share of whom are sexual minorities in same-sex romantic relationships) from the 1996-2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. We find that cigarette taxes significantly reduced smoking among men and women in same-sex households, and the effects we find for men in same-sex households are very robust and significantly larger than the associated effects for men in different-sex households (the vast majority of whom are heterosexual married or partnered men).

Turing's children: Representation of sexual minorities in STEM.

We provide nationally representative estimates of sexual minority representation in STEM fields by studying 142,641 men and women in same-sex couples from the 2009-2018 American Community Surveys. These data indicate that men in same-sex couples are 12 percentage points less likely to have completed a bachelor's degree in a STEM field compared to men in different-sex couples. On the other hand, there is no gap observed for women in same-sex couples compared to women in different-sex couples.

The Direct Effects of Legal Same-Sex Marriage in the United States: Evidence From Massachusetts.

I provide evidence on the direct effects of legal same-sex marriage in the United States by studying Massachusetts, the first state to legalize it in 2004 by court order. Using confidential Massachusetts data from 2001-2013, I show that the ruling significantly increased marriage among lesbians, bisexual women, and gay men compared with the associated change for heterosexuals. I find no significant effects on coupling.

Disparities in Health Insurance Coverage and Access to Care for Children By Mother's Sexual Orientation.

Objective: Few population-based studies have examined the health care experiences of children with sexual minority parents. The purpose of this study was to compare health insurance status, access to care, and health services utilization for children by mother's sexual orientation.

Methods: We used data on children with lesbian mothers (n = 195), bisexual mothers (n = 299), and heterosexual mothers (n = 23,772) in the 2013-2017 National Health Interview Survey.

Effects of state education requirements for substance use prevention.

We provide the first evidence on the effects of state laws requiring students to receive education about alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs using data on over a million youths from the 1976-2010 Monitoring the Future study. In difference-in-differences and event-study models, we find robust evidence that these laws significantly reduced recent alcohol and marijuana use among high school seniors by 1.6-2.

Economic conditions, illicit drug use, and substance use disorders in the United States.

We provide the first analysis of the relationship between economic conditions and the use of illicit drugs other than marijuana. Drawing on US data from 2002 to 2015, we find mixed evidence on the cyclicality of illicit drug use. However, we find robust evidence that economic downturns lead to increases in the intensity of prescription pain reliever use as well as increases in clinically relevant substance use disorders involving opioids.

New Evidence on the Price Effects of Cigarette Tax Competition.

Multiple studies have shown that cigarette taxes are more than fully passed through to cigarette prices and that access to a nearby state with a lower cigarette tax also reduces local cigarette prices. We study two other sources of tax competition: nearby Native American reservations and online sales. Using quarterly data on local cigarette prices from 1976-2003, we show that the opening of a Native American casino within 25 miles of a city center is associated with a $0.

Health Insurance Mandates, Mammography, and Breast Cancer Diagnoses.

We examine the effects of state health insurance mandates requiring coverage of screening mammograms. We find evidence that mammography mandates significantly increased mammography screenings by 4.5-25 percent.

The Mechanisms of Alcohol Control.

A substantial economics literature documents that tighter alcohol controls reduce alcohol-related harms, but far less is known about mechanisms. We use the universe of Canadian mortality records to document that Canada's Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) significantly reduces mortality rates of young men but has much smaller effects on women. Using drinking data that are far more detailed than in prior work, we document that the MLDA substantially reduces 'extreme' drinking among men but not women.

Effects of State Cervical Cancer Insurance Mandates on Pap Test Rates.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of state insurance mandates requiring insurance plans to cover Pap tests, the standard screening for cervical cancer that is recommended for nearly all adult women.

Data Sources: Individual-level data on 600,000 women age 19-64 from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Study Design: Twenty-four states adopted state mandates requiring private insurers in the state to cover Pap tests from 1988 to 2000.

State Education Standards for Tobacco Prevention and Classroom Instruction.

Objectives: We examine whether state educational standards regarding tobacco correspond with teacher reports of classroom instruction.

Methods: We test this relation with data on tobacco use prevention standards, reports of middle and high school teachers from the 2008 and 2010 School Health Profiles study, and logistic regression models.

Results: State education standards are significantly related to increased likelihood of a lead health education teacher in that state reporting that the specific topic was taught in the school.

Effects of a Driver Cellphone Ban on Overall, Handheld, and Hands-Free Cellphone Use While Driving: New Evidence from Canada.

We provide new evidence on the effects of increasingly common driver cellphone bans on self-reported overall, handheld, and hands-free cellphone use while driving by studying Ontario, Canada, which instituted a 3-month education campaign in November 2009 followed by a binding driver cellphone ban in February 2010. Using residents of Alberta as a control group in a difference-in-differences framework, we find visual and regression-based evidence that Ontario's cellphone ban significantly reduced overall and handheld cellphone use. We also find that the policies significantly increased hands-free cellphone use.

Exposure to the Above the Influence antidrug advertisements and adolescent marijuana use in the United States, 2006-2008.

Objectives: We examined the relationship between exposure to the Above the Influence antidrug campaign in 210 US media markets and adolescent marijuana and alcohol use from 2006 to 2008.

Methods: We analyzed monthly advertising exposure (targeted rating points) data from the Office of National Drug Control Policy and drug use data from the Monitoring the Future study. We estimated multivariate logistic regression models of marijuana use for students in grades 8, 10, and 12, with controls for individual, family, and media market characteristics and year and regional fixed effects.

Disparities in health insurance coverage, access, and outcomes for individuals in same-sex versus different-sex relationships, 2000-2007.

Objectives: We used data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to compare health insurance coverage, access to care, and women's cancer screenings for individuals in same-sex versus different-sex relationships.

Methods: We estimated logistic regression models by using data on 5265 individuals in same-sex relationships and 802,659 individuals in different-sex relationships.

Results: Compared with women in different-sex relationships, women in same-sex relationships were significantly less likely to have health insurance coverage, were less likely to have had a checkup within the past year, were more likely to report unmet medical needs, and were less likely to have had a recent mammogram or Pap test.

Effects of venue-specific state clean indoor air laws on smoking-related outcomes.

A large literature has documented relationships between state clean indoor air laws (SCIALs) and smoking-related outcomes in the United States. These laws vary within states over time and across venues such as schools, government buildings, and bars. Few studies, however, have evaluated whether the effects of SCIALs are plausibly concentrated among workers who should have been directly affected because they worked at locations covered by the venue-specific restrictions.

Effects of Sunday sales restrictions on overall and day-specific alcohol consumption: evidence from Canada.

Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the effect of Sunday alcohol-sales policies on day-specific and overall alcohol consumption.

Method: Individual-level data on overall and day-specific alcohol consumption from Canada's National Population Health Surveys, 1994-1999, were linked to province-level policy variation in whether a Sunday sales restriction was present. We compared individuals in provinces with sales restrictions with those in provinces without such restrictions, and we estimated models of day-specific and overall alcohol consumption.

The effects of mandatory seatbelt laws on seatbelt use, motor vehicle fatalities, and crash-related injuries among youths.

We provide the first comprehensive assessment of the effects of mandatory seatbelt laws on self-reported seatbelt use, highway fatalities, and crash-related injuries among high school age youths using data from the Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) national, state, and local Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBS) and the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) from 1991 to 2005, a period spanning over 20 changes in state seatbelt laws. Our quasi-experimental approaches isolate the independent effects of seatbelt laws net of demographic characteristics, area and year fixed effects, and smooth area-specific trends. Across all data sources, we find consistent evidence that state mandatory seatbelt laws - particularly those permitting primary enforcement - significantly increased seatbelt use among high school age youths by 45-80%, primarily at the extensive margin.

Workplace drug testing and worker drug use.

Objective: To examine the nature and extent of the association between workplace drug testing and worker drug use.

Data Sources: Repeated cross-sections from the 2000 to 2001 National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) and the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).

Study Design: Multivariate logistic regression models of the likelihood of marijuana use are estimated as a function of several different workplace drug policies, including drug testing.