Kelly Inas Rashad, Dave Dhaval M, Sindelar Jody L, Gallo William T
Department of Economics, Queens College, CUNY, NBER, 65-30 Kissena Boulevard, Flushing, NY 11367, USA.
Department of Economics, Bentley University, NBER, 175 Forest St., AAC 195, Waltham, MA 02452, USA.
Rev Econ Househ. 2014;12(4):737-770. doi: 10.1007/s11150-012-9166-5. Epub 2012 Oct 23.
Occupational choice is a significant input into workers' health investments, operating in a manner that can be either health-promoting or health-depreciating. Recent studies have highlighted the potential importance of initial occupational choice on subsequent outcomes pertaining to morbidity. This study is the first to assess the existence and strength of a causal relationship between initial occupational choice at labor entry and subsequent health behaviors and habits. We utilize the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to analyze the effect of first occupation, as identified by industry category and blue collar work, on subsequent health outcomes relating to obesity, alcohol misuse, smoking, and physical activity in 2005. Our findings suggest blue collar work early in life is associated with increased probabilities of obesity, at-risk alcohol consumption, and smoking, and increased physical activity later in life, although effects may be masked by unobserved heterogeneity. The weight of the evidence bearing from various methodologies, which account for non-random unobserved selection, indicates that at least part of this effect is consistent with a causal interpretation. These estimates also underscore the potential durable impact of early labor market experiences on later health.
职业选择是影响工人健康投资的一个重要因素，其作用方式既可能促进健康，也可能损害健康。最近的研究强调了初始职业选择对随后发病率相关结果的潜在重要性。本研究首次评估了劳动力进入时的初始职业选择与随后的健康行为和习惯之间因果关系的存在及其强度。我们利用收入动态面板研究来分析2005年按行业类别和蓝领工作确定的第一份职业对随后与肥胖、酒精滥用、吸烟和体育活动相关的健康结果的影响。我们的研究结果表明，早年从事蓝领工作与肥胖、危险饮酒和吸烟的概率增加以及晚年体育活动增加有关，尽管这些影响可能被未观察到的异质性所掩盖。来自各种方法的证据权重，这些方法考虑了非随机未观察到的选择，表明这种影响至少部分与因果解释一致。这些估计还强调了早期劳动力市场经历对后期健康的潜在持久影响。
