How Do Financial Conditions Affect Professional Conduct? Evidence from Opioid Prescriptions

Can personal finances affect professional conduct? We find that healthcare providers increase opioid prescriptions when experiencing unfavorable home value changes, a proxy for wealth shocks. Results hold with office-by-year fixed effects and hold for providers living far from their offices, largely ruling out patient demand explanations. Effects are stronger among lower-income providers, those practicing in lower-income ZIP codes, and those treating minority patients. Higher opioid prescriptions predict more future business. Providers with lower housing returns also perform more preference-sensitive surgeries, but not urgent ones. Our findings show how personal financial pressure shapes professional conduct, with implications beyond healthcare.