Essays in Labor Economics

Authors

Alexandra Roulet, Harvard University

Award Type

First Prize, Co-winner

Dissertation Advisor

Lawrence Katz

Abstract

This dissertation consists of three independent essays. The first essay analyses the relationship between Schumpeterian growth and subjective well-being. The second essay investigates whether more generous unemployment insurance (UI) leads job seekers to be more selective in the job they are looking for. In particular, it estimates the elasticity of the reservation wage and of other dimensions of job selectivity with respect to the potential duration of benefits. The third essay studies whether there remains a causal nonpecuniary effect of job loss on health when the income shock is well insured by UI. It looks at whether exogenous job losses driven by establishment closures in Denmark in the 2000s had any effect on prescription drug purchases, doctors’ visits, hospital diagnoses, and mortality.

Link to dissertation full text