Search

Analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth show that probability of turnover is significantly related to receiving training; men receive more training than women; when predicted probable turnover is controlled, the gender difference is 25% smaller; and positive effects of education on training are due to differences in turnover by educational level. (SK)

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2005.10.001 Byline: Anne Beeson Royalty (a), Jean M. Abraham (b) Keywords: Employer-based health insurance; Full-time employment; Labor force participation; Assortative mating Abstract: Most Americans obtain access to health insurance through an employer. In this paper, we ask how the link between health insurance and employment affects labor market choices such as whether to work full-time. To understand the effect of the incentives embedded in the employer-based insurance system, we study the joint decision-making of husbands and wives that determines the household's access to health insurance. We estimate the effect on a wife's (husband's) labor market outcomes of husband's (wife's) health insurance, allowing the health insurance of both spouses to be endogenous. Obtaining unbiased estimates of such effects is complicated by the likelihood that positive assortative mating creates correlations between a couple's characteristics and the possibility that there are important unobservable household income effects. Our innovation is to measure these biases by examining a second fringe benefit, paid sick leave, in addition to health insurance. We find that, as predicted, spouse's insurance has statistically significant negative effects on being offered own employer insurance as well as on the probability of working full-time with health insurance. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Economics, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, United States (b) Division of Health Services Research and Policy, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, United States Article History: Received 17 March 2005; Revised 7 October 2005; Accepted 7 October 2005

A study on the effect of premium on the decision to enroll in employer health insurance and other benefit plans is presented. The previous estimate of the effects of the insurance was biased due to the presence of unobservable demand or plan quality. In this study the problem is solved by the introduction of three different price regimes. It is observed that workers are insensitive to price in health insurance take up, where as they are sensitive to decisions on taking up dental insurance, vision plans, wellness benefits, etc. therefore the influence of premium subsidies is negligible in increasing the insurance rates of workers who are already having the employer insurance.

Using a unique panel dataset of health plan choices and personal characteristics of employees at a single firm, this paper provides estimates of price elasticities for health insurance plans in a managed competition setting. Estimated price elasticities are larger in absolute value than most previous estimates and the magnitude of the price elasticity suggests that there is a place for price competition in this market. The authors also find evidence of transition costs in switching health plans for older and less healthy employees. Such differential responses to price may contribute to adverse selection in this market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]