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The authors use data from the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (C-NLSY79) to examine gender differences in the associations between child behavioral problems and early adult earnings. They find large and significant earnings penalties for women who exhibited more headstrong behavior and for men who exhibited more dependent behavior as children. By contrast, the authors observe no penalties for men who were headstrong or for women who were dependent. Although other child behavioral problems are also associated with labor market earnings, their associations did not differ significantly by gender. The gender differences in headstrong and dependent behavior are not explained by education, marriage, depression, self-esteem, health, or adult personality traits. One potential explanation is that these gender differences are a consequence of deviations from gender norms and stereotypes in the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prescription opioid use among women of reproductive age and pregnant women is relatively common, and increased prescription opioid use is associated with a commensurate increase in opioid use disorder (OUD) among pregnant women and neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) among infants. In this article, we examine whether state opioid control policies affected prescription opioid use and, in turn, infant health and maternal behaviors. Results from our analysis suggest that reductions in prescription opioid use because of state prescription opioid control policies have improved infant health marginally at the population level with larger implied effects at the individual level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine whether higher cost‐sharing deterred prescription opioid use. Medicare Part D claims from 2007 to 2016 for a 20% random sample of Medicare enrollees. We obtain estimates of the effect of cost‐sharing on prescription opioid use using ordinary least squares and instrumental variables methods. In both, we exploit the variation (change) in cost‐sharing within plans over time for a sample of beneficiaries who remain in the same plan. Focusing on changes in cost‐sharing within a plan for a constant sample of beneficiaries mitigates potential bias from plan selection and using a constant set of weights derived from use in year (t) eliminates changes in the cost‐sharing indexes due to (endogenous) consumer choice in year (t+1). Part D plans adopted benefit changes designed to reduce opioid use, including moving opioids to higher cost‐sharing tiers. Increasing plan copayments for hydrocodone or oxycodone was associated with reductions in plan‐paid claims and offsetting increases in cash claims. Widespread availability of low‐cost generics combined with the anti‐clawback provision in Part D mediated the effect of higher cost sharing to curb opioid use. As plans moved generic opioids to higher cost‐sharing tiers, beneficiaries simply paid cash prices and aggregate use remained largely unchanged. The anti‐clawback provision in Part D, intended to protect beneficiaries from price gouging, limited plans' ability to constrain opioid use through typical demand‐side measures such as increased cost‐sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]