Publications by John Bound for Health Policy Center

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This article examines whether race and ethnicity disparities in health account for similar disparities in employment status and other labor-related outcomes. Two population groups whose health is systematically worse than that of whites (blacks and Native Americans) are identified. We document the distribution of labor-related outcomes-employment, earnings, public transfer program participation, and household income-for these groups. Health disparities seem to contribute to the substantial difference in employment and participation in public transfer programs between whites and blacks and between whites and Native Americans. But health disparities account for a smaller portion of the substantial differences in household income and labor earnings across racial/ethnic groups. (Bound, J, Waidmann, T., Schoenbaum, M., and Bingenheimer, J. 2003. "The Labor Market Consequences of Race Differences in Health." Milbank Quarterly 81(3):441-473.)

During the 1990s, while overall employment rates for working-aged men and women either remained constant (men) or rose (women), employment rates for people with disabilities fell. During the same period the fraction of the working-aged population receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) benefits increased dramatically. This article presents simple time series and cross-state evidence suggesting that the growth in the DI program can account for much of the decline in the relative employment position of men and women with disabilities. (Journal of Human Resources 2002 Spring; 37(2): 231-250).

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