Employment-Based Health Insurance and Job Mobility: Is There Evidence of Job-Lock?

Brigitte Madrian

No 4476, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper assesses the impact of employer-provided health insurance on job mobility by exploring the extent to which workers are 'locked' into their jobs because preexisting conditions exclusions make it expensive for individuals with medical problems to relinquish their current health insurance. I estimate the degree of job-lock by comparing the difference in the turnover rates of those with high and low medical expenses for those with and without employer-provided health insurance. Using data from the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey, I estimate that job-lock reduces the voluntary turnover rate of those with employer-provided health insurance by 25 percent, from 16 percent to 12 percent per year.

JEL-codes: H51 I10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1993-09
Note: PE
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published as Quarterly Journal of Economics, February 1994, 109: p. 27-54

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Journal Article: Employment-Based Health Insurance and Job Mobility: Is there Evidence of Job-Lock? (1994)
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