RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Labor Supply Responses to Health Shocks: Evidence from High-Frequency Labor Market Data from Urban Ghana
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 0618-9584R2
DO 10.3368/jhr.57.1.0618-9584R2
A1 Heath, Rachel
A1 Mansuri, Ghazala
A1 Rijkers, Bob
YR 2019
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2019/11/07/jhr.57.1.0618-9584R2.abstract
AB Workers in developing countries are subject to frequent health shocks. Using 10 weeks of high-frequency labor market data that were collected in urban Ghana, this paper documents that men are 9 percentage points more likely to work in weeks in which another worker in the household is unexpectedly ill. The paper provides suggestive evidence that these effects are strongest among very risk averse men, men in poorer households, and men who are the highest earners in their household. By contrast, women display a net zero response to another worker’s illness, even women who are the highest earners in their household.