Mortality, Mass-Layoffs, and Career Outcomes: An Analysis Using Administrative Data

47 Pages Posted: 22 Dec 2006

See all articles by Daniel G. Sullivan

Daniel G. Sullivan

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Till von Wachter

Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: November 2006

Abstract

Seemingly short-term labor market shocks, such as job displacements, can have persistent effects on workers' earnings, employment, job stability, consumption, and access to health insurance. A long literature suggests such changes in workers' socioeconomic conditions can have potentially important effects on health outcomes, but existing studies associating job loss to health status face several problems of measurement and identification. This paper uses a large longitudinal administrative data set of quarterly earnings and employer records matched to information on individual mortality outcomes to estimate the long-term effect of a job loss during a mass layoff on mortality. We find that a job loss leads to a 15-20% increase in the probability of dying in the 20 years following a job loss. The initial and the long-run responses are particular pronounced.

Keywords: Job loss, displacement, mortality

JEL Classification: I10, J65, J68

Suggested Citation

Sullivan, Daniel G. and von Wachter, Till, Mortality, Mass-Layoffs, and Career Outcomes: An Analysis Using Administrative Data (November 2006). FRB of Chicago Working Paper No. 2006-21, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=953233 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.953233

Daniel G. Sullivan (Contact Author)

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago ( email )

230 South LaSalle Street
Chicago, IL 60604
United States

Till Von Wachter

Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Economics ( email )

420 West 118th Street
New York, NY 10027
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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