The Effect of Unemployment on the Smoking Behavior of Couples

Jakob Everding and Jan Marcus

No 1037, SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research from DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)

Abstract: Although unemployment likely entails various externalities, research examining its spillover effects on spouses is scarce. This is the first paper to estimate effects of unemployment on the smoking behavior of both spouses. Using German Socio-Economic Panel data, we combine matching and difference-in-differences estimation, employing the post-double-selection method for control-variable selection via Lasso regressions. One spouse’s unemployment increases both spouses’ smoking probability and intensity. Smoking relapses and decreased smoking cessation drive the effects. Effects are stronger if the partner already smokes and if the male partner becomes unemployed. Of several mechanisms discussed, we identify smoking to cope with stress as relevant.

Keywords: smoking; risky health behaviors; unemployment; job loss; spillover effects; post-double-selection method (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 I12 J63 J65 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 p.
Date: 2019
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea, nep-lab and nep-mac
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https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.623762.de/diw_sp1037.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The effect of unemployment on the smoking behavior of couples (2020)
Journal Article: The effect of unemployment on the smoking behavior of couples (2020)
Working Paper: The effect of unemployment on the smoking behavior of couples (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1037

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