This dissertation consists of three empirical essays on labor, health, and real estate economics. The first essay theoretically and empirically analyzed the effects of the costs of firing an employee and hiring a replacement in a labor market with imperfect information. The theory suggested that increased expected firing or replacement costs contributed to a ``lemons effect" for the fired worker through the negative signal received in the labor market regarding the worker's ability. To test this theory, data from the Displaced Worker's Supplement to the Current Population Survey from 2004 to 2014 was used. The results were mixed, but suggested that workers in the United States who were displaced from their job experienced decreased probabilities of finding reemployment as firing costs increased. The essay also examined whether this ``lemons effect" contributed to larger wage decreases, but the estimates did not support this conclusion. The second essay estimated the impacts of the 2001 elimination of the Medicare 24-month waiting period for non-elderly Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) patients. Using data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey, this essay estimated the effects of the elimination on health insurance coverage and utilization of health care services. By applying a difference-in-difference OLS estimation technique, it was estimated that, as a result of the waiting period elimination, non-elderly ALS patients were more likely to be insured, but there was a significant crowd-out of private insurance. These non-elderly patients who were admitted to the hospital with serious symptoms were also more likely to be transferred to long- or short-term care facilities while non-serious patients were more likely to receive a high (four or more) number of medical services while hospitalized. In the third essay, the effects of a new suburban casino on local housing prices were evaluated. Similar to the second essay, a difference-in-difference approach was applied, but it was combined with a spatial hedonic pricing model. Using data from a GIS product from the Maryland Department of Planning and local-area data from the American Community Survey, the effects that the opening of Maryland Live! Casino had on home sales prices of properties located in primary (one-mile radius) and secondary (one to three miles) impact areas were estimated. The results of the estimations indicated that the opening of the casino had a positive impact on housing prices in the primary impact area and this impact likely began during the construction period. No impacts, however, were evident in the secondary impact area. / Economics
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TEMPLE/oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/2378 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Shinn, Joseph |
| Contributors | Bognanno, Michael, 1962-, Maclean, Johanna Catherine, Webber, Douglas (Douglas A.), Noonan, Kelly |
| Publisher | Temple University. Libraries |
| Source Sets | Temple University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation, Text |
| Format | 127 pages |
| Rights | IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/2360, Theses and Dissertations |
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