Current Topics in Health Economics and Policy
Paper Session
Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021 12:15 PM - 2:15 PM (EST)
- Chair: Shin-Yi Chou, Lehigh University
Information Campaign and Pain Relief Prescription
Abstract
This study investigates how physicians responded to a series of information regarding pain reliefs and pain management in terms of prescribing behaviors since late 1990 in the United States. In 1996, Purdue Pharma L.P. introduced Oxycotin to the U.S. market and marketed it for non-cancer pain treatment. The marketing targeted physicians who prescribe fewer pain reliefs as well as primary care physicians. In 2000, Veterans Health Administration (VHA) had established a protocol of pain treatment, while the Joint Commission introduced a series of pain management guidelines in 2001. Physicians may respond to the series of information regarding pain management by changing prescribing behaviors. We investigated whether physicians’ prescribing behaviors varied across the level of pain associated with different medical conditions. We analyzed the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) data in 1995 to 2015 and found that, in office-based visits, physicians did not respond to the information immediately. Since early 2000’s, physicians started to prescribe more pain reliefs for medical conditions associated with mild pain rather than medical conditions associated with severe pain. The behavioral change was highly persistent: this increased pain relief use for mild pain remained salient even after the opioid abuse already caught the attention of the public.Global Movement Restrictions in a Labor-Leisure Pandemic World
Abstract
Almost all nations of the world are affected by the current mitigation measures that aim to control the spread of Covid-19. We study the implications of lifting those measures on health, economic behavior and market outcomes across the world by partnering with a university having students dispersed across the globe. We hypothesize the effect of these interventions to be heterogeneous since individuals may have different preferences for social connectivity. We incorporate social preferences during work and leisure time in the canonical labor-leisure model. The model predicts smaller reductions in productivity and labor market expectations for individuals with higher social dependence on leisure activities, as opposed to individuals who are socially more connected in their work lives. Moreover, individuals with higher absolute social dependence are likely to experience larger reductions in overall well-being. We test the predictions by identifying the social preference types in each domain via administrative, survey, and experimental variation from our partner university. In our surveys, we elicit responses related to time spent on leisure and labor activities with and without social connectivity. Moreover, a randomized intervention of leisure and labor activities allows us to cross-validate these types by assessing how much individuals value social connectivity in each domain. We interact the types with the natural policy variation from Covid-19 to estimate the heterogenous causal effect of the mitigation measures. Overall, our findings will inform policy decisions related to social, economic, and psychological disruptions, with the objective of normalizing social and living conditions amid the pandemic.Is Home Eviction Associated with Child Abuse and Neglect? Empirical Evidence from a National Database of Eviction Records and Child Protective Services Data
Abstract
Home eviction can increase the likelihood of homelessness and exacerbate the negative effects of poverty on families. Eviction is especially detrimental for low-income families who may not have a safety net (e.g., no other places to live, no income resources to support basic living expenses) after eviction. Home eviction has been linked to a higher risk of negative mental health outcomes for both parents and their children. Parental stress as a result of eviction may further increase the risk of their children experiencing maltreatment. This study aimed to understand the relationship between home eviction and child abuse and neglect (CAN). Data from 2000-2016 National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) and Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) were used. We focused our analyses on all children’s foster care entries and substantiated child maltreatment cases reported to child protective services (CPS). The home eviction data are from the Eviction Lab at Princeton University, which collected formal eviction county-court records from 48 states and the District of Columbia from 2000-2016. We used two-way fixed-effect models to examine the association between home eviction and CAN. Preliminary results show that a 1 percent increase in the home eviction filing rate is associated with a 0.46 percent (p = 0.041) increase in the rate of children’s foster care entries. In addition, a 1 percent increase in the home eviction rate is associated with a 1.14 percent (p = 0.008) increase in the rate of children’s foster care entries. No significant association was found between the home eviction rate or the home eviction filing rate and substantiated child maltreatment rate. Providing stable and affordable housing may reduce foster care entries and prevent CAN. Approaches that strengthen family’s economic supports (e.g., assisted housing mobility), that might effectively reduce parental stress and CAN.Discussant(s)
Shin-Yi Chou
,
Lehigh University
Zhi Wang
,
Indiana University
Wei Fu
,
University of Pennsylvania
Chia-Lun Liu
,
University of Pennsylvania
JEL Classifications
- I1 - Health
- K4 - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior