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The Intergenerational Transmission of Opioid Dependence: Evidence from Administrative Data

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  • Alexander Ahammer
  • Martin Halla

Abstract

To address the opioid crisis, it is crucial to understand its origins. We provide evidence for the intergenerational transmission of opioid dependence. Our analysis is based on administrative data covering the universe of Austrian births from 1984 to 1990. We consider prescription opioids and have a close proxy for addiction to illicit opioids. We find that, if at least one parent is using illicit opioids, the likelihood of the child using increases from 1.1 to 6.1%. For prescription opioids, we observe an increase from 4.6 to 7.7%. Both associations are stable and do not change when controlling for environmental variables.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander Ahammer & Martin Halla, 2020. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Opioid Dependence: Evidence from Administrative Data," Economics working papers 2020-10, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    • Handle: RePEc:jku:econwp:2020-10
    Note: English
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Opioids; prescription opioids; illicit opioids; heroin; addiction; drug abuse; intergenerational transmission; intergenerational correlation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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