Prescription Opioids and Labor Market Pains: The Effect of Schedule II Opioids on Labor Force Participation and Unemployment

Matthew Harris, Lawrence M. Kessler, Matthew N. Murray and Beth Glenn

Journal of Human Resources, 2020, vol. 55, issue 4, 1319-1364

Abstract: We examine the effect of prescription opioids on county labor market outcomes, using data from the Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs of ten U.S. states and labor data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We achieve causal identification by exploiting plausibly exogenous variation in the concentration of high-volume prescribers as instruments (using Medicare Part D prescriber data). We find strong adverse effects on labor force participation rates, employment-to-population ratios, and unemployment rates. Notably, a 10 percent increase in prescriptions causes a 0.53 percentage point reduction in labor force participation, similar to the drop attributed to the 1984 liberalization of Disability Insurance.

Date: 2020
Note: DOI: 10.3368/jhr.55.4.1017-9093R2
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (26)

Downloads: (external link)
http://jhr.uwpress.org/cgi/reprint/55/4/1319
A subscription is required to access pdf files. Pay per article is available.

Related works:
Working Paper: Prescription Opioids and Labor Market Pains: The Effect of Schedule II Opioids on Labor Force Participation and Unemployment (2018)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:55:y:2020:i:4:p:1319-1364

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Human Resources from University of Wisconsin Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().