Health
Using Vog from Kilauea to Estimate the Health Consequences of Particulate and SO2 Pollution
By Tim Halliday, John Lynham and Aureo de Paula Kīlauea volcano is the largest stationary source of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) pollution in the United States of America. The SO₂ that the volcano emits eventually forms particulate matter, another major pollutant. In a recent project, we use this exogenous source of pollution variation to estimate the impact of […]
Read MoreVog: Using Volcanic Eruptions to Estimate the Health Costs of Particulates
The negative consequences of long-term exposure to particulate pollution are well-established but many studies find no effect of short-term exposure on health outcomes. The high correlation of industrial pollutant emissions complicates the estimation of the impact of individual pollutants on health. In this study, we use emissions from Kilauea volcano, which are uncorrelated with other […]
Read MoreThe Effect of Plan B on Teen Abortions: Evidence From the 2006 FDA Ruling
An increase in the availability of emergency contraception (EC) may lead to a decrease in the abortion rate. The 2006 FDA ruling, which relaxed the prescription requirement for EC for women 18 and older, allows us to apply the difference-in-difference methodology on the age-by-year-by-state abortion data to test this hypothesis. Contrary to the literature, we […]
Read MoreUnemployment and Mortality: Evidence from the PSID
We use micro-data to investigate the relationship between unemployment and mortality in the United States using Logistic regression on a sample of over 16,000 individuals. We consider baselines from 1984 to 1993 and investigate mortality up to ten years from the baseline. We show that poor local labor market conditions are associated with higher mortality […]
Read MoreUHERO 101.11: Hawaii Health Insurance Premiums, Oligopolies, and the Affordable Care Act
By Inna Cintina Earlier this year the Federal Department of Health and Human Services (FDHHS) issued a summary report on the health plan choices and premiumsacross the country that will be available in the Health Insurance Marketplace. This report focuses on assessment of the plans with the lowest premiums in each state, as those are […]
Read MoreBehind-the-counter, but Over-the-border? The Assessment of the Geographical Spillover Effect of Increased Access to Emergency Contraception
Washington was the first state to ease the prescription requirements making emergency contraception (EC) available behind-the-counter at pharmacies to women of any age in 1998. I hypothesize that the increased availability of EC affects fertility rates beyond the borders of the state that allows it. In contrast to the literature, I show that increased access […]
Read MoreBehind-the-counter, but Over-the-border? A case of emergency contraception
When the state imposes age restrictions on consumption of certain goods and services, potential customers often look for ways to avoid these restrictions. “Border-hopping” refers to the practice of crossing a state’s border from the state that has stricter restrictions to the state with more lenient age policies and is well documented in reference to […]
Read MoreThe Effect of Minimum Drinking Age Laws on Pregnancy, Fertility, and Alcohol Consumption
Analysis of micro-level data reveals that changes in the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA)could induce changes in the intensity and location of alcohol consumption, sexual behavior, and teen fertility. Effects on teen fertility vary across different populations. Among 15-20 year-old non-poor whites, less restrictive legal access to alcohol decreases the probability of first pregnancy and […]
Read MoreAlcohol Use and Pregnancies Among Youth: Evidence From a Semi-Parametric Approach
Despite a well-established correlation between alcohol intake and various risk-taking sexual behaviors, the causality remains unknown. I model the effect of alcohol use on the likelihood of pregnancy among youth using a variety of estimation techniques. The preference is given to the semi-parametric model where the cumulative distribution of heterogeneity is approximated by a 4-point […]
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