TY  - JOUR
AU  - Deb,Partha
AU  - Gallo,William T.
AU  - Ayyagari,Padmaja
AU  - Fletcher,Jason M.
AU  - Sindelar,Jody L.
TI  - Job Loss: Eat, drink and try to be merry?
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 15122
PY  - 2009
Y2  - July 2009
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15122
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15122.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Partha Deb
Hunter College
Department of Economics
695 Park Avenue
Room 1524 West
New York, NY 10065
Tel: 212/772-5435
Fax: 212/772-5398
E-Mail: partha.deb@hunter.cuny.edu

William T. Gallo
CUNY School of Public Health
Hunter College / CUNY
425 E. 25th Street, Rm. 817 W
New York, NY 10010
E-Mail: william.gallo@hunter.cuny.edu

Padmaja Ayyagari
Yale University
Epidemiology & Public Health
P.O. Box 208034, 60 College St.
New Haven, CT 06520-8034
E-Mail: padmaja.ayyagari@yale.edu

Jason Fletcher
Yale University
School of Public Health
60 College Street, #303
New Haven, CT 06510
Tel: (203) 785-5670
Fax: (203) 785-6287
E-Mail: jason.fletcher@yale.edu

Jody L. Sindelar
Yale School of Public Health
Yale University School of Medicine
60 College Street, P.O. Box 208034
New Haven, CT 06520-8034
Tel: 203/785-5287
Fax: 203/785-6287
E-Mail: jody.sindelar@yale.edu
AB  - This paper examines the impact of job loss from business closings on body mass index (BMI) and alcohol consumption. We improve upon extant literature by using:  exogenously determined business closings, a sophisticated estimation approach (finite mixture models) to deal with complex heterogeneity, and national, longitudinal data (Health and Retirement Study). For both alcohol consumption and BMI, we find evidence that individuals who are more likely to respond to job loss by increasing unhealthy behaviors are already in the problematic range for these behaviors before losing their jobs.  Thus health effects of job loss could be concentrated among “at risk” individuals.
ER  -