Estimating Effects of Wages on Smoking Prevalence Using Labor Unions as Instrumental Variables New article by J. Paul Leigh
Objectives: To test for the effects of wages on smoking using
labor unions as instrumental variables. Methods: We analyzed four
waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (2013 to 2019
alternate years). The overall sample included workers aged 18 to
70 years in 2013 and subsamples within blue clerical/white-collar
and private/public sector jobs (N = 37,117 to 8446 person years).
We used two instrumental variables: worker’s union membership and
states’ right-to-work laws. Results: $1 (2019 US dollars)
increases in wages per-hour resulted in 1.3 (P < 0.001)
percentage point decreases in smoking prevalence (8.2% decreases
at the smoking mean). Larger effect sizes and strong statistical
significance were found for blue-collar + clerical and
private-sector subsamples; smaller sizes and insignificance were
found for public-sector and white-collar subsamples. Conclusions:
Unions increase wages, and higher wages, in turn, reduce smoking.
Wages and labor unions are underappreciated social determinants
of health.
J. Paul Leigh received his degree in Economics from the
University of Wisconsin, Madison. His fields of expertise are
health and labor economics as well as econometrics.
