Do Medical Treatments Work for Work? Evidence from Breast Cancer Patients

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Daysal, N. Meltem; Pedersen, Mikkel Hasse; Evans, William N.; Trandafir, Mircea
• 署名单位: University of Copenhagen; University of Notre Dame; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20240133
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: early retirement; PREMENOPAUSAL WOMEN; radiation-therapy; COOPERATIVE GROUP; HEALTH; disease; RISK; radiotherapy; IMPACT; pain

摘要

We investigate the effects of radiation therapy on the mortality and economic outcomes of breast cancer patients. We implement a 2SLS strategy within a difference-in-difference framework exploiting variation in treatment stemming from a medical guideline change in Denmark. We reproduce the results from an RCT showing the lifesaving benefits of radiotherapy. We show radiation therapy also has economic returns: Ten years after diagnosis, treatment increases employment by 37 percent and earnings by 45 percent. Previous work has documented a substantial employment drop after a breast cancer diagnosis. Our results imply that radiation therapy can reduce this effect by 70 percent. (JEL H51, I12, I18, J16, J22, J31)