The Labor and Health Economics of Breast Cancer
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SeriesHealth Economics Seminars
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Speaker(s)Alexander Ahammer (Johannes Kepler University Linz, Germany)
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FieldEmpirical Microeconomics
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LocationErasmus University Rotterdam, Campus Woudestein, Polak 2-18
Rotterdam -
Date and time
November 12, 2024
12:00 - 13:00
Abstract
We estimate the long-run labor market and health effects of breast cancer among Austrian women. Compared to a random sample of same-aged non-affected women, those diagnosed with breast cancer face a 22.8 percent increase in health expenses, 6.2 percent lower employment, and a wage penalty of 15 percent five years after diagnosis. Although affected women sort into higher quality jobs post-diagnosis, this is offset by a reduction in working hours. We argue that the hours reduction is more likely driven by an increase in the time preference rate, meaning that patients increasingly value the present over the future, rather than by an incapacitation effect or employer discrimination.