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Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, Meeting Room 415
Hosted By:
Association of Christian Economists
Health of Vulnerable Groups
Paper Session
Friday, Jan. 5, 2018 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM
- Chair: Sarah Hamersma, Syracuse University
The Effect of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program on the Mental and Behavioral Health of Children
Abstract
In this paper, we examine the effects of public health insurance expansions during 1997-2002 on the mental and behavioral health of children. Using three waves of the National Survey of America’s Families (NSAF) and legislative State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) income eligibility thresholds by state-year-age, we explore the causal impact of SCHIP generosity on participation, general health care utilization, mental health service utilization, and finally children’s mental and behavioral health measures. Our results first show that SCHIP thresholds significantly increased public health insurance coverage and general health care utilization. However, there is almost no statistically significant evidence of increases in mental health care utilization or improvements in general mental health outcomes for the whole sample. When we focus on the Assessing the New Federalism (ANF) “study states” that comprise the bulk of the NSAF sample, we find a bit more evidence that SCHIP expansions may have slightly increased the probability of receiving mental health care, as well as improved a few specific mental health outcomes for some age groups, but overall estimated effects remain small.Effect of Craigslist on Violence Against Women
Abstract
Female prostitution is both illegal in most American cities and extremely dangerous, as prostitutes face risks of violence from the environment and clients. Previous studies suggest that prostitution has the highest homicide rate of any female intensive occupation in the United States by several orders of magnitude. Policies that can efficiently minimize these hazards are therefore of prima facie importance. Between 2002 and 2010, Craigslist provided an "erotic services" section on its front page which was used almost exclusively by prostitutes to advertise illegal sex services. The company opened this service in different cities at different points in time. We use a differences-in-differences strategy to identify its causal effect on female safety and find that Craigslist erotic services reduced the female homicide rate by 17.4 percent. We also find modest evidence that erotic services reduced female rape offenses. Our analysis suggests that this reduction in female violence was the result of street prostitutes moving indoors and matching more efficiently with safer clients.Discussant(s)
Daniel Wilmoth
,
U.S. Small Business Administration
Catherine Maclean
,
Temple University
Mark Hoekstra
,
Texas A&M University
JEL Classifications
- I1 - Health