The Impact of Opioids on the Labor Market: Evidence from Drug Rescheduling

David Beheshti

Journal of Human Resources, 2023, vol. 58, issue 6, 2001-2041

Abstract: The areas most affected by the opioid crisis have witnessed deteriorating economic conditions, although it is unclear if this represents a causal relationship. I provide new evidence on this question by leveraging a natural experiment that sharply decreased the supply of hydrocodone, the most commonly prescribed opioid in the United States, relative to other opioids. Areas with larger reductions in hydrocodone prescribing experienced relative improvements in labor force participation and employment. However, these areas also witnessed higher growth in drug-related arrests. I find some evidence of reductions in illicit opioid deaths, which are offset by increases in other drug-related deaths.

JEL-codes: I10 J20 J21 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
Note: DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.0320-10762R1
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://jhr.uwpress.org/cgi/reprint/58/6/2001
A subscription is required to access pdf files. Pay per article is available.

Related works:
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:58:y:2023:i:6:p:2001-2041

Access Statistics for this article

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