I specify an econometric model to estimate the causal effects of environmental factors on individuals’ life-cycle health outcome, and outline a semiparametric control function approach to test and correct for the possible selectivity bias that may arise due to endogenous choice of residence by individuals. I show how to map Union Army Sample data to elements of this model in practice. JEL Class...

Gender Patterns in Vietnam’s Child Mortality We analyze child mortality in Vietnam focusing on gender aspects. Contrary to several other countries in the region, mortality rates for boys are substantially larger than for girls. A large rural-urban mortality difference exists, but much more so for boys than for girls. A higher education level of the mother reduces mortality risk, but the effect ...

This paper shows that smoking intensity, i.e. the amount of nicotine extracted per cigarette smoked, responds to changes in excise taxes and tobacco prices. We exploit data covering the period 1988 to 2006 across many US states. Moreover, we provide new evidence on the importance of cotinine measures in explaining long-run smoking behaviour and we investigate the sensitivity of smoking cessatio...

This paper analyzes the relationships between the values and dispersion of residential properties and the environmental-health quality of their locations. It constructs residents’ health-adjusted lifetime-utility function by combining satisfaction from consumption over the lifespan with risk to life from living in an environmentally unhealthy location. It employs this utility function to analyz...

This paper estimates the impact of first nationwide e-commerce expansion program on rural households. To do so, we combine a randomized control trial with new survey and administrative microdata. In contrast to existing case studies, find little evidence for income gains producers workers. Instead, are driven by reduction in cost living minority households that tend be younger, richer, more rem...

This study presents credible estimates for the causal eff ect of a variation in obesity on employment. By exploring random assignment of a weight loss intervention based on monetary rewards, I provide convincing evidence that weight loss positively aff ects the employment prospects of obese women but not of obese men. Consistent with this, signifi cant eff ects of weight loss on proxy variables...

The presence of the L1 sequences, L1Md4 next to the pseudogene beta h3 and I12 found in the twelfth intron of the albumin gene, in certain strains of laboratory mice but not of others has led to the suggestion that these sequences were recent insertions into the Mus mus domesticus genome. To be sure that they are really recent insertions and not relics of an ancestral chromosome, we investigate...

Abstract We estimate the impact of involuntary unemployment following employer shutdowns during COVID-19 pandemic on American households' past-week food expenditures, free receipt, and sufficiency, as well confidence about next month's adequacy Over April to June 2020, compared with households containing employed respondents, respondents who lost their jobs due coronavirus-induced firm closures...