Uncertainty around economic recovery from a pandemic, in addition to restrictions on mobility and socializing, can be isolating and stressful. While preventive measures, such as mask mandates, are expected to mitigate spread of the disease and lower concerns of future job loss, state- and...

We examine the effects of involuntary job loss and retirement on the mental health of older Americans using the Health and Retirement Surveys (1992-2002). Potential endogeneity may arise due to reverse causality or latent individual effects or both. Using several econometric techniques we obtain...

We use a multilevel multinomial econometric approach to model the categories of body mass index as functions of both lifestyle components and external environment. Among state level variables, higher per-capita sales of restaurants and higher Gini coefficient are associated with higher rates of...

We analyse how age and cognitive skills are related to risk tolerance among respondents to the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth between 1993 and 2006. Older individuals display lower risk tolerance than younger individuals, though as the panel ages from their early thirties to their...

We evaluate the effect of differences in child care and food environments on obesity among children in the age group of four to six years. To address non-random selection of children into different child care settings, we first predict market price of child care and market wages, and then...