TY  - JOUR
AU  - Xu,Xin
AU  - Kaestner,Robert
TI  - The Business Cycle and Health Behaviors
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 15737
PY  - 2010
Y2  - February 2010
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15737
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15737.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Xin Xu
Institute of Health Research and Policy
University of Illinois at Chicago
E-Mail: xxu11@uic.edu

Robert Kaestner
Institute of Government and Public Affairs
University of Illinois
815 West Van Buren Street, Suite 525
Chicago, IL  60607
Tel: 312/996-8227
E-Mail: kaestner.robert@gmail.com
AB  - In this paper, we take a structural approach to investigate the effects of wages and working hours on health behaviors of low-educated persons using variation in wages and hours caused by changes in economic activity. We find that increases in hours are associated with an increase in cigarette smoking, a reduction in physical activity, and fewer visits to physicians. More importantly, we find that most of the effects associated with changes in hours can be attributed to the changes in the extensive margin of employment. Increases in wages are associated with greater consumption of cigarettes.
ER  -