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Is Work Bad for Health? The Role of Constraint versus Choice

Bassanini, Andrea; Caroli, Eve (2015), Is Work Bad for Health? The Role of Constraint versus Choice, Annals of Economics and Statistics, 119-120, p. 13-37. 10.15609/annaeconstat2009.119-120.13

Type
Article accepté pour publication ou publié
Date
2015
Journal name
Annals of Economics and Statistics
Number
119-120
Pages
13-37
Publication identifier
Metadata
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Author(s)
Bassanini, Andrea
EconomiX [EconomiX]
Institute for the Study of Labor [IZA]

Caroli, Eve
Laboratoire d'Economie de Dauphine [LEDa]
Laboratoire d'Economie et de Gestion des Organisations de Santé [Legos]
Institute for the Study of Labor [IZA]
Abstract (EN)
This paper reviews the literature on the impact of work on health. We consider work along two dimensions: (i) the intensive margin, i.e. how many hours an individual works when employed and (ii) the extensive margin, i.e. whether an individual is in employment or not. We show that most of the evidence on the negative health impact of work found in the literature is based on situations in which workers have essentially no control (no choice) over the amount of work they provide. In essence, what is detrimental to health is not so much work per se as much as the gap which may exist between the actual and the desired amount of work, both at the intensive and extensive margins.
Subjects / Keywords
health; work; retirement; hours worked; job loss; individual choice
JEL
I10 - General
I31 - General Welfare, Well-Being
J22 - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
J28 - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy