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Harder, better, faster … Yet stronger? Working conditions and self‐declaration of chronic diseases

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  • Éric Defebvre

Abstract

The role played by working conditions in worker health status has been widely acknowledged in the literature in general but has received less attention in economics, due to the inherent statistical biases and lack of data available to determine the role of simultaneous and chronic exposures. This study aims to estimate the causal impact of detrimental working conditions on the self‐declaration of chronic diseases in France. Using a rebuilt retrospective lifelong panel and defining indicators for physical and psychosocial strains, I implement a mixed econometric strategy that relies on difference‐in‐differences and matching methods to take into account for selection biases as well as unobserved heterogeneity. For men and women, I find deleterious effects of both types of working conditions on the declaration of chronic diseases after exposure, with varying patterns of impacts according to the nature and magnitude of the strains. These results provide insights into the debate on legal retirement age postponement and justify not only policies being enacted early in individuals' careers in order to prevent subsequent midcareer health repercussions, but also schemes that are more focused on psychosocial risk factors.

Suggested Citation

  • Éric Defebvre, 2018. "Harder, better, faster … Yet stronger? Working conditions and self‐declaration of chronic diseases," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 59-76, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:27:y:2018:i:3:p:e59-e76
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.3619
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    Cited by:

    1. Thomas Barnay & Éric Defebvre, 2021. "Working conditions and disabilities in French workers: a career-long retrospective study," Erudite Working Paper 2021-14, Erudite.
    2. Nina Drange & Trude Gunnes & Kjetil Telle, 2021. "Workload, staff composition, and sickness absence: findings from employees in child care centers," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(6), pages 3375-3400, December.
    3. Marine Coupaud, 2020. "The mediating role of working conditions in the analysis of the links between offshoring and health of European workers," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(2), pages 1522-1537.

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