How Well Can We Track Cohabitation Using the SIPP? A Consideration of Direct and Inferred Measures

Cohabitation is an alternative to marriage and to living independently for an increasing number of Americans. Despite this fact, research exploring links between living arrangements and economic behavior is limited by a lack of data that explicitly identify cohabiting couples. To aid researchers in using the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) rich data for cohabitation issues, our paper considers direct and inferred measures of cohabitation. Our findings suggest that: (1) the best inferred measures in pre-1966 SIPP depends upon a researcher\u27s goals, and (2) the SIPP counts a larger number of cohabiting couples than the widely used CPS

Slippery When Wet: The Effects of Local Alcohol Access Laws on Highway Safety

This paper examines 237 instances of policy changes related to alcohol sales and consumption enacted in Texas communities between 1975 and 1996 to determine their effect on the incidence of alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents. These policies are categorized by location where the alcohol is consumed after sale (on the premises or off) and the type of alcohol available for consumption (beer and wine or hard liquor). After controlling for both county and year fixed effects, we find evidence that (i) the sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises (in bars and restaurants) is associated with a sizeable increase in alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents, (ii) the sale of alcohol (in liquor stores) for consumption off the premises may actually decrease expected accidents, and (iii) the sale of higher proof alcohol (hard liquor) presents greater risk to highway safety

Three essays on the behavioral impacts of public policy on health

The first essay explores whether or not recent expansions in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) have enhanced private health insurance coverage for low-income workers. Theoretically, through both a (tax) price and income effect, the credit would be expected to raise private coverage. My results suggest that large EITC expansions between 1994 and 1996--which provide exogenous variation in benefits--lead to increases in employer-based health insurance coverage, but not in privately purchased non-group coverage. From these estimates I calculate that approximately 370,000 individuals gained employer-based coverage as a result of an expanded EITC between 1992 and 1998. The second essay is a study of the relationship between expansions in public health insurance programs and fertility patterns in the United States. Large expansions of Medicaid and the implementation of state Child Health Insurance Programs during the 1990s increased the availability of publicly subsidized health insurance for pregnancy-related services and child health care. Expanded coverage lowered the costs associated with bearing and raising children, and consequently had the potential to affect fertility behavior. I test this hypothesis using variation birthrates and in Medicaid/CHIP policies across states between 1989 and 1998 and find a 3 percent increase in the national birthrate in response to more generous public health insurance coverage. The third essay examines whether or not policies that restrict the sales of alcoholic beverages affect motor vehicle accident rates. For the analysis, we use a unique and detailed panel of data with annual observations on 254 Texas counties, each with their own alcohol control policies, over the period 1976 to 1996. After controlling for both county and year fixed effects, we find evidence that: (i) the sale of alcohol for on-premises consumption is associated with a sizeable increase in alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents while sale for off-premises consumption may actually decrease accidents; and (ii) the sale of higher alcohol-content liquor presents greater risk to highway safety

Slippery When Wet: The Effects of Local Alcohol Access Laws on Highway Safety

Using detailed panel data on local alcohol policy changes in Texas, this paper tests whether the effect of these changes on alcohol-related accidents depends on whether the policy change involves where the alcohol is consumed and the type of alcohol consumed. After controlling for both county and year fixed effects, we find evidence that: (i) the sale of beer and wine may actually decrease expected accidents; and (ii) the sale of higher alcohol-content liquor may present greater risk to highway safety than the sale of just beer and wine