Noam Kirson - Job Market Candidate

• Work, Stress and Health: Some Adverse Effects of Female Labor Market Participation, Job market paper, current draft 4/12/2008
  
  Abstract: This paper finds a strong positive correlation between female labor force participation and negative health outcomes for middle-aged men and women, and suggests that this correlation is mediated by household-level stress. At the cross-country aggregate level, I show that labor force participation of women is associated with increased mortality rates among both men and women. At the individual level, I find that married men whose spouses work are more likely to die within 10 years, to have high blood pressure and to self-report worse health outcomes. The findings do not appear to be the result of reverse causality. The mortality effects, both aggregate and individual, are especially large for deaths from ischemic heart disease, while weak to moderate for cancer. These findings match well with the medical evidence on the link between stress and health. 
  

• Obese, Overworked and Relatively Healthy? An American Puzzle, current draft 4/15/2008
  
  Abstract: Using objective health markers from an array of national health interview and examination surveys, I conduct a multi-country comparison of health outcomes spanning the US, England, Germany, Finland and Norway. In spite of a considerable obesity disadvantage, the American population appears relatively healthy, especially with regard to hypertension and total cholesterol levels. Predicted coronary heart disease risk in the US is only slightly higher than in England, and considerably lower than in Norway, Germany and Finland. These findings are consistent with mortality measures, and diverge from results based on self-reported measures. Moreover, there is considerable cross-country variation in treatment patterns and in the discrepancies between self-reported and objectively measured health. 
  

• Intergenerational Transfers: Some Evidence on Strategic Giving, current draft 4/15/2008
  
  Abstract: This paper examines the effects of strategic exchange on intergenerational giving in the potential presence of estate taxes. Using a simple theoretical model, I demonstrate the tradeoff faced by altruistic elderly parents in their attempts to both minimize estate tax exposure and extract services from their children. This tradeoff yields an equilibrium outcome qualitatively consistent with the existing literature on actual suboptimal tax behavior with respect to the estate and gift tax. Data from the HRS is used to evaluate central predictions. I find that wealth and income are positively correlated with net transfers to children; physical distance between parents and children increases transfers in wealthy households, providing evidence for a strategic motive; and liquidity increases transfers, but mainly in wealthier households.