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Title: Essays in Health Economics
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Chen, Alice J.
Essays in Health Economics
Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Business, The University of Chicago, 2014
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT)
Keyword(s): Body Mass Index (BMI); Gender Differences; Labor Market Outcomes; NCDS - National Child Development Study (British); Obesity; Wage Penalty/Career Penalty; Weight

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This dissertation presents three essays in health economics. The first essay sheds light on the relationship between health insurance and access to care. The second essay considers the relationship between health and labor markets. The third essay explores one facet of health inequality.

The second essay concentrates on how health affects labor market outcomes. Past empirical work establishes a wage penalty from being overweight. In this essay, I exploit variation in an individual's weight over time to determine the age when weight has the largest impact on labor market outcomes. For white men, controlling for weight at younger ages does not eliminate the effect of older adult weight on wage: being overweight as a young adult only adds an additional penalty to adult wages. However, for white women, what they weigh in their early twenties solely determines the existence of an adult wage penalty. The female early-twenties weight penalty has a persistent effect on wages, and differences in marital characteristics, occupation status, or education cannot explain it. It also is not a proxy for intergenerational unobservables.

Bibliography Citation
Chen, Alice J. Essays in Health Economics. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Business, The University of Chicago, 2014.