The Effects of the Opioid Crisis on Employment: Evidence from Labor Market Flows

Anita Mukherjee, Daniel W. Sacks and Hoyoung Yoo

Journal of Human Resources, 2025, vol. 60, issue 3, 780-811

Abstract: We show that the opioid crisis slows transitions to employment from unemployment and nonparticipation. We identify the effect of the opioid crisis from cross-state variation in triplicate prescribing regulations, which produced long-lasting reductions in opioid use by reducing the initial distribution of the blockbuster opioid OxyContin. Difference-in-differences estimates show that triplicate regulations induce unemployed and nonparticipating workers in triplicate states to return to employment about 10 percent faster than workers in nontriplicate states. These estimates imply a 1.1 percentage point higher level of employment in steady state.

JEL-codes: E24 E61 E71 J21 K32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
Note: DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.1121-12018R2
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