Harder, better, faster … Yet stronger? Working conditions and self-declaration of chronic diseases.

Abstract

The role played by working conditions in worker health status has been widely acknowledged in the literature in general but has received less attention in economics, due to the inherent statistical biases and lack of data available to determine the role of simultaneous and chronic exposures. This study aims to estimate the causal impact of detrimental working conditions on the self-declaration of chronic diseases in France. Using a rebuilt retrospective lifelong panel and defining indicators for physical and psychosocial strains, I implement a mixed econometric strategy that relies on difference-in-differences and matching methods to take into account for selection biases as well as unobserved heterogeneity. For men and women, I find deleterious effects of both types of working conditions on the declaration of chronic diseases after exposure, with varying patterns of impacts according to the nature and magnitude of the strains. These results provide insights into the debate on legal retirement age postponement and justify not only policies being enacted early in individuals' careers in order to prevent subsequent midcareer health repercussions, but also schemes that are more focused on psychosocial risk factors.