The effect of cancer on the labor supply of employed men over the age of 65

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between cancer diagnosis and the labor supply of employed men over the age of 65. While almost 60% of male cancers are diagnosed in men over the age of 65, no previous research has examined the effect that cancer has on this age group, which is surprising given the relevance of this group to public policy. With data from the Health and Retirement Study, I show that cancer has a significant negative effect on the labor supply of these workers. Using a combination of linear regression models and propensity score matching, I find that respondents who are diagnosed with cancer work 3 fewer hours per week than their non-cancer counterparts. They are also 10 percentage points more likely to stop working. This reduction seems to be driven by a deterioration in physical and mental health.

The joint effect of health shocks and eligibility for social security on labor supply

“…They do, however, find a reduction of approximately 2.5 hours in the subsequent year. Focusing on cancer specifically, Candon [32] finds no difference in hours of work between those who return after the health shock and the healthy workers.…”

“…In fact, it is also plausible that the condition E(∆e it |∆HS it ) = E(∆e it ) is satisfied given that the shocks included in the model are the onset of sudden, severe conditions such as cancer diagnosis or stroke. The assumption that the effect of health shocks on employment can be identified by differencing away any time-constant unobserved heterogeneity is standard within the health shock literature since experimental or quasi-experimental methods cannot be used with the data at hand (see Garcia-Gomez et al [19], Trevisan and Zantomio [26], and Candon [32] for examples). Empirical evidence to support the assumptions that underpin the two models is presented in the final two subsections of this section.…”

“…Evidence from the U.S [27][28];[29];[30];[31];[32];[33];[34];[35], Europe[36];[37];[38];[39];[40], and elsewhere[41];[42], shows that cancer, like other health shocks, has generally been found to have a negative effect on labor supply.…”

N6-Methyladenosine-Related lncRNAs Are Novel Prognostic Markers and Predict the Immune Landscape in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

“…As a result, many new and effective targeted therapies have been developed. These include protein kinase small-molecule inhibitors such as gilteritinib ( Perl et al, 2019 ), enasidenib ( Stein et al, 2017 ), and ivosidenib ( Dinardo et al, 2018 ); immune checkpoint antibody such as gemtuzumab ( Vago and Gojo, 2020 ); and mitochondrial inhibitor venetoclax ( Candon, 2018 ; Ram et al, 2019 ). Despite these advances, the prognosis of AML is still poor with a 5-year overall survival (OS) rate of approximately 10% ( Dewolf and Tallman, 2020 ).…”