Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/202902 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
Upjohn Institute Working Paper No. 19-306
Publisher: 
W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Kalamazoo, MI
Abstract: 
Innovations in cancer treatment have lowered mortality, but little is known about their economic benefits. We assess the effect of two decades of improvements in cancer treatment options on the labor market outcomes of breast and prostate cancer patients. In addition, we compare this effect across cancer patients with different levels of educational attainment. We estimate the effect of medical innovation on cancer patients' labor market outcomes employing tax return and cancer registry data from Canada and measuring medical innovation by using the number of approved drugs and a quality-adjusted patent index. While cancer patients are less likely to work after their diagnosis, we find that the innovations in cancer treatment during the 1990s and 2000s reduced the negative employment effects of cancer by 63-70 percent. These benefits of medical innovation are limited to cancer patients with postsecondary education, raising concerns about unequal access to improved treatment options.
Subjects: 
medical innovation
breast cancer
prostate cancer
labor supply
employment
earnings
returns to education
JEL: 
I12
I14
I24
I26
J22
O31
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
676.38 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.