After the introduction of abuse-deterrent OxyContin in 2010, states with widespread extramedical OxyContin use experienced steep increases in heroin deaths, implying substitution from OxyContin to heroin. Leveraging cross-state variation in initial OxyContin utilization, we show the OxyContin...

This study compares the evolution of income-related health inequality (IRHI) in Australia (2001–2006) and in Great Britain (1999–2004) by exploring patterns of morbidity- and mortality-related health changes across income groups. Using Australian longitudinal data, the change in health...

The measurement of health disparities is a key component for the assessment of health systems. One aspect of these disparities – which hitherto has received limited attention – is the risk people face about their future health. This paper integrates risk into the standard inequality...

This paper introduces Parameter Estimation by Raw Moments (PERM), a flexible method for evaluating a policy's impact on the parameters of an outcome distribution. Such parameters include the variance (E[Y 2 ]-E[Y] 2 ), skewness and covariance of two outcomes. PERM simplifies distributional...

The standard literature on working time has modelled the decisions of firms in a deterministic framework in which firms can choose between employment and overtime (given mandated standard hours). Contrary to this approach, we consider the impact of uncertainty and real options on the decision of...

The standard literature on working time has modelled the decisions of firms in a deterministic framework in which firms can choose between employment and overtime (given mandated standard hours). Contrary to this approach, we follow the real options approach, which allows us to investigate the...

The data indicate that non-wage labour costs in Germany have reached a record high in recent years. From 1972 to 2001, the ratio of non-wage labour costs to direct compensation in West German manufacturing industry rose from 55.6 per cent to 81.2 per cent. The topic of non-wage labour costs is...