We provide evidence on the impact of firm productivity on the health maintenance of employees. Using linked employer-employee data from Hungary, we analyze the dynamics of healthcare use before and after moving to a new firm. We show that moving to a more productive firm leads to higher consumption of drugs for cardiovascular conditions and more physician visits, without evidence of deteriorating physical health, and, among older workers, to lower consumption of medications for mental health conditions. The results suggest that more productive firms have a beneficial effect on the detection of previously undiagnosed chronic illnesses and on mental health.

In this paper, I study how a policy aimed at not criminalizing illicit drug consumers, to recognize their health care needs, might negatively influence newborn’s health. In 2013, a policy that established maximum permissible amounts of possession of illicit substances for personal consumption
was implemented in Ecuador. This regulatory change might be one of the drivers of increased availability of drugs, which in turn, may increase consumption. I exploit variation in drug exposure at the province level in a difference-in-differences framework, which compares Ecuadorian provinces
with different intensities of drug exposure before and after 2013. I find that the share of low birth weight and very low birth weight newborns raise significantly by 16.26% and 82.22% in provinces initially more exposed to drugs. I also document a significant increase in both women and men’s
substance use. I conclude that the increase in drug use is possibly one of the channels affecting newborn’s health living in more exposed provinces.

In this paper, we investigate the effect of delaying retirement age on late-career mental health. We contribute to the recent literature by examining how this effect varies depending on working conditions, utilizing exogenous data on job quality. Using pension reforms in several European countries, and repeated cross-sectional data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe and the European Working Conditions Survey, we find that extending work horizon generally has a negative impact on mental health of older workers, with significant heterogeneity depending on job characteristics. Specifically, both male and female workers in lower-skilled, insecure jobs with poor prospects experience a marked increase in depression when required to work longer. Moreover, the social dimension at work plays a critical role, with poor social conditions exacerbating the adverse effects of delayed retirement on mental health, and supportive working environments reversing them.