Family Labor Supply Responses to Severe Health Shocks: Evidence from Danish Administrative Records

A-Tier
Journal: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
Year: 2021
Volume: 13
Issue: 3
Pages: 1-30

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We provide new evidence on households' labor supply responses to fatal and severe nonfatal health shocks in the short run and medium run. To identify causal effects, we leverage administrative data on Danish families and construct counterfactuals using households that experience the same event a few years apart. Fatal events lead to considerable increases in surviving spouses' labor supply, which the evidence suggests is driven by families who experience significant income losses. Nonfatal shocks have no meaningful effects on spousal labor supply, consistent with their adequate insurance coverage. The results support self-insurance as a driving mechanism for the family labor supply responses.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aejapp:v:13:y:2021:i:3:p:1-30
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25