IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/uwp/jhriss/v37y2002i1p129-162.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Employer-Provided Health Insurance on Dynamic Employment Transitions

Author

Listed:
  • Donna B. Gilleskie
  • Byron F. Lutz

Abstract

We estimate the impact of employer-provided health insurance (EPHI) on the job mobility of males over time using a dynamic empirical model that accounts for unobserved heterogeneity. Previous studies of job-lock reach different conclusions about possible distortions in labor mobility stemming from an employment-based health insurance system: a few authors find no evidence of job-lock, although most find reductions in the mobility of insured workers of between 20 and 40 percent. We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth which includes variables describing the health insurance an individual holds, as well as whether he is offered insurance by his employer. This additional information allows us to model the latent individual characteristics that are correlated with the offer of EPHI, the acceptance of EPHI, and employment transitions. Our results provide an estimate of job-lock unbiased through correlation with positive job characteristics and individual specific turnover propensity. We find no evidence of job-lock among married males, and produce small estimates of job-lock among unmarried males of between 10 and 15 percent.

Suggested Citation

  • Donna B. Gilleskie & Byron F. Lutz, 2002. "The Impact of Employer-Provided Health Insurance on Dynamic Employment Transitions," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 37(1), pages 129-162.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:37:y:2002:i:1:p:129-162
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/306960
    Download Restriction: A subscripton is required to access pdf files. Pay per article is available.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mroz, Thomas A., 1999. "Discrete factor approximations in simultaneous equation models: Estimating the impact of a dummy endogenous variable on a continuous outcome," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 233-274, October.
    2. Heckman, James & Singer, Burton, 1984. "A Method for Minimizing the Impact of Distributional Assumptions in Econometric Models for Duration Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(2), pages 271-320, March.
    3. Sanders Korenman & David Neumark, 1991. "Does Marriage Really Make Men More Productive?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 26(2), pages 282-307.
    4. Thomas C. Buchmueller & Robert G. Valletta, 1996. "The Effects of Employer-Provided Health Insurance on Worker Mobility," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 49(3), pages 439-455, April.
    5. Kanika Kapur, 1998. "The Impact of Health on Job Mobility: A Measure of Job Lock," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 51(2), pages 282-298, January.
    6. Brigitte C. Madrian, 1994. "Employment-Based Health Insurance and Job Mobility: Is there Evidence of Job-Lock?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 109(1), pages 27-54.
    7. Olivia S. Mitchell, 1983. "Fringe Benefits and the Cost of Changing Jobs," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 37(1), pages 70-78, October.
    8. Rebecca M. Blank, 1994. "Social Protection versus Economic Flexibility: Is There a Trade-Off?," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number blan94-1, March.
    9. Jonathan Gruber & Brigitte C. Madrian, 1994. "Health Insurance and Job Mobility: The Effects of Public Policy on Job-Lock," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 48(1), pages 86-102, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Scott Barkowski, 2020. "Does government health insurance reduce job lock and job push?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 87(1), pages 122-169, July.
    2. David Mushinski & Alexandra Bernasek & Stephan Weiler, 2015. "Job Lock in Rural versus Urban Labor Markets," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 253-273, June.
    3. Jonathan Gruber, 1998. "Health Insurance and the Labor Market," NBER Working Papers 6762, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pc:p:3309-3416 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Ji-Liang Shiu, 2014. "Two separated effects of employer-provided health insurance on job mobility," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(28), pages 3389-3407, October.
    6. Bansak, Cynthia & Raphael, Steven, 2005. "The State Health Insurance Program and Job Mobility: Identifying Job Lock among Working Parents in Near-Poor Households," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt87n5j524, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    7. Kevin T. Stroupe & Eleanor D. Kinney & Thomas J.J. Kniesner, 2001. "Chronic Illness and Health Insurance-Related Job Lock," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(3), pages 525-544.
    8. Gulcin Gumus & Tracy Regan, 2007. "Self-Employment and the Role of Health Insurance," Working Papers 0910, University of Miami, Department of Economics.
    9. Anna Sanz De Galdeano, 2004. "Health Insurance and Job Mobility: Evidence from Clinton's Second Mandate," CSEF Working Papers 122, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    10. Harley Frazis & Mark A. Loewenstein, 2009. "How Responsive are Quits to Benefits?," Working Papers 426, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    11. Scott Adams & Benjamin Artz, 2015. "Health Insurance, Familial Responsibilities and Job Satisfaction," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 143-153, March.
    12. Brigitte C. Madrian, 2005. "The U.S. health care system and labor markets," Conference Series ; [Proceedings], Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, vol. 50(Jun), pages 137-163.
    13. Farooq, Ammar & Kugler, Adriana, 2016. "Beyond Job Lock: Impacts of Public Health Insurance on Occupational and Industrial Mobility," IZA Discussion Papers 9832, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Candon, David, 2018. "The effect of cancer on the labor supply of employed men over the age of 65," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 184-199.
    15. Scott J. Adams, 2004. "Employer‐provided Health Insurance and Job Change," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 22(3), pages 357-369, July.
    16. Tracy L. Regan & Gulcin Gumus, 2006. "Tax Incentives as a Solution to the Uninsured: Evidence from the Self-Employed," Working Papers 0709, University of Miami, Department of Economics, revised Oct 2007.
    17. Chatterji, Pinka & Brandon, Peter & Markowitz, Sara, 2016. "Job mobility among parents of children with chronic health conditions: Early effects of the 2010 Affordable Care Act," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 26-43.
    18. Ribar, David C., 2004. "What Do Social Scientists Know About the Benefits of Marriage? A Review of Quantitative Methodologies," IZA Discussion Papers 998, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Robert W. Fairlie & Kanika Kapur & Susan Gates, 2016. "Job Lock: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 92-121, January.
    20. Cynthia Bansak & Steven Raphael, 2008. "The State Children's Health Insurance Program and Job Mobility: Identifying Job Lock among Working Parents in Near-Poor Households," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 61(4), pages 564-579, July.
    21. David Yaskewich, 2015. "Dependent Health Insurance Laws and College Enrollment: Is There Evidence of College Lock?," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 557-569, December.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:37:y:2002:i:1:p:129-162. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: . General contact details of provider: http://jhr.uwpress.org/ .

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://jhr.uwpress.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.