Workplace Injuries and Receipt of Benefits From Workers' Compensation and Social Security Disability Insurance.

We examine whether workers who experience permanently disabling injuries covered by workers' compensation (WC) end up on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and whether Social Security Administration (SSA) seems to offset WC payments for permanently disabling injuries against SSDI benefits, when appropriate. Methods: We capture data on WC benefit receipt from the Health and Retirement Study and link it to SSA data on WC and SSDI recipients to study descriptive information on these questions. Results: We find that SSA seems to be missing data on WC benefits for a sizable share of recipients of WC benefits and that the frequency with which SSDI benefits are reduced because of the WC offset seems surprisingly low.

Does Ageist Language in Job Ads Predict Age Discrimination in Hiring?

We study the relationships between ageist stereotypes - as reflected in the language used in job ads - and age discrimination in hiring, exploiting the text of job ads and differences in callbacks to older and younger job applicants from a resume (correspondence study) field experiment (Neumark, Burn, and Button, 2019). Our analysis uses computational linguistics and machine learning methods to examine, in a field-experiment setting, ageist stereotypes that might underlie age discrimination in hiring. In so doing, we develop methods and a framework for analyzing textual data, highlighting the usefulness of various computer science techniques for empirical economics research.

Strengthen Age Discrimination Protections to Help Confront the Challenge of Population Aging.

A policy imperative in light of population aging in the United States is to increase employment among older workers. However, age discrimination, especially in hiring, can impede efforts to encourage older people to work longer. This commentary reviews evidence on age discrimination and laws prohibiting age discrimination, and discusses recent court rulings that affect the strength of these laws.

Do State Laws Protecting Older Workers from Discrimination Reduce Age Discrimination in Hiring? Evidence from a Field Experiment.

We conduct a resume field experiment in all U.S. states to study how state laws protecting older workers from age discrimination affect age discrimination in hiring for retail sales jobs.

Relative Sizes of Age Cohorts and Labor Force Participation of Older Workers.

We study the effects of the size of older cohorts on labor force participation and wages of older workers in the United States. We use panel data on states, treating the age structure of the population as endogenous, owing to migration. When older cohorts (50-59 or 60-69) are large relative to a young cohort (aged 16-24), the evidence fits the relative supply hypothesis.

The effect of primary care visits on other health care utilization: A randomized controlled trial of cash incentives offered to low income, uninsured adults in Virginia.

We conducted a randomized controlled trial, enrolling low-income uninsured adults in Virginia (United States), to determine whether cash incentives are effective at encouraging a primary care provider (PCP) visit, and at lowering utilization and costs. Subjects were randomized to four groups: untreated controls, and one of three incentive arms with incentives of $0, $25, or $50 for visiting a PCP within six months of group assignment. We used the exogenous variation generated by the experiment to obtain causal evidence on the effects of a PCP visit.

The Effects of Provider Choice Policies on Workers' Compensation Costs.

Objective: To examine the effects of provider choice policies on workers' compensation medical and indemnity costs.

Data Sources/study Setting: Pooled cross-sectional analysis of administrative claims records for workers with work-related injuries primarily in 2007-2010 across 25 states (n = 4,489,729).

Study Design: We used linear and quantile regression analyses to evaluate differences in claim costs (medical and indemnity) based on whether policies give employers or injured workers control over the choice of provider.

Does Eliminating the Earnings Test Increase the Incidence of Low Income Among Older Women?

Reducing or eliminating Social Security's retirement earnings test (RET) can encourage labor supply of older individuals receiving benefits. However, these reforms can encourage earlier claiming of Social Security benefits, permanently lowering future benefits. We explore the consequences, for older women, of eliminating the RET from the full retirement age to age 69 (in 2000), relying on the intercohort variation in exposure to changes in the RET to estimate these effects.

Small Cash Incentives Can Encourage Primary Care Visits By Low-Income People With New Health Care Coverage.

In a randomized controlled trial, we studied low-income adults newly covered by a primary care program to determine whether a cash incentive could encourage them to make an initial visit to a primary care provider. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of four groups: three groups whose members received $10 to complete a baseline survey during an interview and who were randomized to incentives of $50, $25, or $0 to visit their assigned primary care provider within six months after enrolling in the study; and a nonincentivized control group not contacted by the research team. Subjects in the $50 and $25 incentive groups were more likely to see a primary care provider (77 percent and 74 percent, respectively), compared to subjects in the $0 incentive group (68 percent).

Barriers to Later Retirement for Men: Physical Challenges of Work and Increases in the Full Retirement Age.

Policy changes intended to delay retirements of older workers and extend their work lives may run up against barriers owing to rising physical challenges of work as people age. We examine whether physical challenges at work influence employment transitions of older male workers in the age range for which public policy is trying to extend work lives and whether older male workers are able to mitigate these challenges while still remaining employed. The evidence indicates that physical challenges pose a barrier to extending work lives, although some older male workers with physically demanding jobs are able to mitigate these demands-either at new jobs or with the same employer.

Does Protecting Older Workers From Discrimination Make It Harder to Get Hired? Evidence From Disability Discrimination Laws.

We explore the effects of disability discrimination laws on hiring of older workers. A concern with antidiscrimination laws is that they may reduce hiring by raising the cost of terminations and-in the specific case of disability discrimination laws-raising the cost of employment because of the need to accommodate disabled workers. Moreover, disability discrimination laws can affect nondisabled older workers because they are fairly likely to develop work-related disabilities, but are generally not protected by these laws.

WORK CONTINUATION WHILE TREATED FOR BREAST CANCER: THE ROLE OF WORKPLACE ACCOMMODATIONS.

Given the short- and long-term disabilities associated with breast cancer and its treatment, the authors investigate the influence of workplace accommodations on the employment and hours worked of women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. Accommodations that allow women to work fewer hours or that ease the burden of work could also generate health benefits by reducing workplace demands and allowing women more time to tend to treatment needs and recovery. In prior research, the authors found modest labor supply impacts on employment for this group of women.

Does employer-provided health insurance constrain labor supply adjustments to health shocks? New evidence on women diagnosed with breast cancer.

Employment-contingent health insurance may create incentives for ill workers to remain employed at a sufficient level (usually full-time) to maintain access to health insurance coverage. We study employed married women, comparing the labor supply responses to new breast cancer diagnoses of women dependent on their own employment for health insurance with the responses of women who are less dependent on their own employment for health insurance, because of actual or potential access to health insurance through their spouse's employer. We find evidence that women who depend on their own job for health insurance reduce their labor supply by less after a diagnosis of breast cancer.

The effects of health shocks on employment and health insurance: the role of employer-provided health insurance.

Employment-contingent health insurance (ECHI) has been criticized for tying insurance to continued employment. Our research sheds light on two central issues regarding employment-contingent health insurance: whether such insurance "locks" people who experience a health shock into remaining at work; and whether it puts people at risk for insurance loss upon the onset of illness, because health shocks pose challenges to continued employment. We study how men's dependence on their own employer for health insurance affects labor supply responses and health insurance coverage following a health shock.

Lessons for coverage expansion: a Virginia primary care program for the uninsured reduced utilization and cut costs.

The Affordable Care Act will expand health insurance coverage for an estimated thirty-two million uninsured Americans. Increased access to care is intended to reduce the unnecessary use of services such as emergency department visits and to achieve substantial cost savings. However, there is little evidence for such claims.

SPATIAL MISMATCH OR RACIAL MISMATCH?

We contrast the spatial mismatch hypothesis with what we term the racial mismatch hypothesis - that the problem is not a lack of jobs, per se, where blacks live, but a lack of jobs where blacks live into which blacks are hired. We first report new evidence on the spatial mismatch hypothesis, using data from Census Long-Form respondents. We construct direct measures of the presence of jobs in detailed geographic areas, and find that these job density measures are related to employment of black male residents in ways that would be predicted by the spatial mismatch hypothesis - in particular that spatial mismatch is primarily an issue for low-skilled black male workers.

Differences in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment: experiences of insured and uninsured women in a safety-net setting.

To explore how well the safety net performs at eliminating differences in diagnosis and treatment of insured and uninsured women with breast cancer, we compared insured and uninsured women treated in a safety-net setting. Controlling for socioeconomic characteristics, uninsured women are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced disease, requiring more extensive treatment relative to insured women, and also experience delays in initiating and completing treatment. The findings suggest that, despite the safety-net system, uninsured women with breast cancer are likely to require more costly treatment and to have worse outcomes relative to insured women with breast cancer.

Employment and cancer: findings from a longitudinal study of breast and prostate cancer survivors.

We discuss how cancer affected the employment of almost 800 employed patients who participated in a longitudinal study. The greatest reduction in patients' labor supply (defined as employment and weekly hours worked) was observed 6 months following diagnosis. At 12 and 18 months following diagnosis, many patients returned to work.

Employment-contingent health insurance, illness, and labor supply of women: evidence from married women with breast cancer.

We examine the effects of employment-contingent health insurance (ECHI) on married women's labor supply following a health shock. First, we develop a theoretical framework that examines the effects of ECHI on the labor supply response to a health shock, which suggests that women with ECHI are less likely to reduce their labor supply in response to a health shock, relative to women with health insurance through their spouse's employer. Second, we empirically examine this relationship based on labor supply responses to breast cancer.

Combining registry, primary, and secondary data sources to identify the impact of cancer on labor market outcomes.

Some cancers are rapidly becoming chronic conditions that are more and more often diagnosed in working-age individuals. The authors developed a research agenda to study the labor market outcomes attributable to detection and treatment for cancer, and research design and data collection strategies to improve upon other research on these questions. In this article, they describe their approach to combining secondary data sources, primary data collection, and cancer registry data to evaluate the impact cancer has on labor market outcomes such as employment, hours worked, wages, and health insurance.

Employment outcomes of men treated for prostate cancer.

Background: Some organizations recommend prostate cancer screening for men younger than age 65 years, many of whom will be employed when they are diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer. Yet little is known about how prostate cancer and its treatment affect men's employment status. Consequently, we explored employment outcomes 6 and 12 months after the diagnosis of prostate cancer.

Short-term effects of breast cancer on labor market attachment: results from a longitudinal study.

In this longitudinal study, we examine the consequences of breast cancer for women's labor market attachment for the 6-month period following diagnosis. Women with breast cancer, with the exception of those having in situ cancer, were less likely to work 6 months following diagnosis relative to a control sample of women drawn from the Current Population Survey. Breast cancer's non-employment effect appears to be twice as large for African-American women.

Breast cancer and women's labor supply.

Objective: To investigate the effect of breast cancer on women's labor supply. DATE SOURCE/STUDY SETTING: Using the 1992 Health and Retirement Study, we estimate the probability of working using probit regression and then, for women who are employed, we estimate regressions for average weekly hours worked using ordinary least squares (OLS). We control for health status by using responses to perceived health status and comorbidities.

Breast cancer survival, work, and earnings.

Relying on data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) linked to longitudinal social security earnings data, we examine differences between breast cancer survivors and a non-cancer control group in employment, hours worked, wages, and earnings. Overall, breast cancer has a negative impact on employment. However, among survivors who work, hours of work, wages, and earnings are higher compared to women in the control group.