Research
Research
1. Work Hours Reforms and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from South Korea (Job Market Paper), Current Version: Link, Presented in SEA 2025 and CREED 2025
Abstract: This paper examines the effects of two types of statutory hours worked reductions on hours worked and labor market outcomes in South Korea. Utilizing legal work hours reforms based on industry and firm scale at different phases, the empirical findings provide several key findings. First, I find little evidence that an increase in overtime hours substitutes for the reduction in legal standard hours worked. The standard hours reform disproportionately affects female workers by increasing their overtime work and the likelihood of engaging in long working hours. Second, I find evidence that the standard hours reform increases the likelihood of receiving firm-provided vocational training. To address the increased labor costs, firms may incentivize their workers to provide firm-provided training and to boost productivity. Third, I find that the overtime hours reform increases standard hours worked, thereby raising the total hours worked by female workers. Since the overtime hours reform increases the likelihood of full-time employment among female workers, it may promote the employment of women who previously worked relatively fewer hours. Finally, I find no evidence that either type of working hours regulation significantly affects workers whose hours are not recorded under standard or overtime hour classifications. They may even deviate from the intended policy objectives.
2. Labor Supply and Savings Responses to Increasing the Pension Eligibility Age in South Korea (with Jonathan M. Leganza and Devon Gorry), under review, Current Version: Link
Abstract: We study how people responded to a reform in South Korea that increased the full pension eligibility age. Using regression discontinuity, we document the causal effects of the reform on several potential margins of adjustment. Consistent with studies in other settings, we find clear evidence of delayed benefit claiming. However, in contrast with other studies, we find little-to-no statistical evidence of changes in labor supply. We also find no evidence of changes in savings or spending. The South Korean pension is relatively new, and benefit replacement rates are comparatively modest, which may have contributed to muted responses.
3. The Impact of Legalized Recreational Marijuana Laws on Obesity (with Reginald B. Hebert and Eye Eoun (Ian) Jung), Current version: being revised, Presented in ASHecon 2025: Poster
Abstract: This study investigates the causal effect of recreational marijuana laws (RMLs) on body mass index (BMI) using data from the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) from 1990 to 2024. While numerous studies have explored the association between marijuana use and appetite, few have examined the causal evidence between marijuana use and BMI. Leveraging the staggered adoption of RMLs as a natural experiment, we employ a Two-Stage Difference-in-Difference (2SDiD) and Synthetic DiD model to estimate the effect of RMLs on BMI. Although our initial 2SDiD point estimates indicate a significant decrease in BMI of approximately 0.294 units or 1.08 percent (0.294/27.33), the event-study analysis reveals a downward pre-trend in BMI prior to the implementation of RMLs. After accounting for the Goodman-Bacon adjustment procedure, our findings suggest that RMLs have no statistically significant effect on BMI. Moreover, we find little evidence for potential mechanisms or heterogeneous effects depending on gender and age groups.
4. Does Job Loss Trigger Negative Health Behaviors and Life Change? (with Sunwoo Park and Reginald B. Hebert), Current Version: being revised.
Abstract: This study aims to examine the effect of involuntary job displacement on health behaviors in South Korea. Despite extensive research on the association between economic downturns and health behaviors, there is limited evidence regarding the effect of job displacement on health behaviors and overall life satisfaction. Utilizing involuntary job loss due to business closure and layoffs in job history data, we identify the causal effect of job loss on individuals' health and life. We find that job loss increases the number of cigarettes smoked per day by approximately 10.07 percent. In addition, job displacement increases the intensive margin of drinking by approximately 7.20 percent. The empirical findings find no evidence that job loss is associated with physical activities. Although we do not find evidence of a decline in self-assessed health, we find that job loss results in decreased leisure and life satisfaction. Furthermore, job loss also triggers negative perceptions of economic and socioeconomic status, as well as perceived social mobility. Therefore, the social costs of unemployed status may be underestimated if the negative spillover effects of job loss on health behaviors are not considered.
5. The Effect of Retirement on Health Behaviors and Overall Life Satisfaction: Evidence from South Korea (with Devon Gorry and Jonathan M. Leganza) [Draft coming soon]
Abstract: This study examines the effect of retirement on health behaviors among men in South Korea. Although South Korea has experienced rapid aging, little literature has examined the impact of retirement on health behaviors using the case of South Korea. Utilizing the legal retirement age of 60 as an instrumental variable (IV), we account for the endogenous issues between retirement and health outcomes. We find strong evidence that retirees increase their exercise participation and frequency upon retirement. Although there is consistent evidence for reducing drinking behaviors, we only find statistical evidence in changing smoking behaviors. For the life satisfaction index, we find consistent evidence that retirement is negatively associated with overall life satisfaction. The empirical results indicate that exiting the labor market due to the legal retirement age significantly declines individuals’ life satisfaction.
6. Gender-Specific Effects of Smoking Cessation on Drinking: Evidence from a Randomized Trial (with Hojin Park and Daewhan Kim), Link, Presented in APPAM 2023: Poster (Journal of Drug Issues, forthcoming)
Abstract: While a substantial body of literature focuses on the correlational evidence between smoking and drinking, limited studies have examined the causal effect of smoking and drinking by gender. In this study, we estimate the causal effects of smoking cessation on drinking, further dissecting the effects by gender. Using the data from the Lung Health Study (LHS), we utilize the random assignment of participants to intervention groups as an instrumental variable (IV) to implement a two-stage least squares (2SLS) model for causal inference. The empirical findings reveal that smoking cessation leads to a significance decrease in the likelihood of alcohol use among women by 22.3 percentage points in the long run (p < 0.05). In contrast, we do not observe a significant effect of smoking cessation on alcohol use among men. This underscores a unique and interdependent relationship between smoking and drinking behaviors, especially in women. In conclusion, our research suggest that policies promoting smoking cessation may potentially contribute to alcohol abstinence among women.
The Effect of Dobbs: Contraceptive Access, Reproductive Autonomy, and Child Welfare (with Sungmee Kim and Bogyung Kim)
Intergenerational Informal Care and Parental Mental Health (with Sunwoo Park and Ruohan Tang)
Legalized Recreational Marijuana Laws and Health Demand Market (with Sarah Anastasia Webb)
Kim, D., Park, H., & An, J. (2024). The Effect of Smoking Cessation Caused by Cigarette Price Increase on Drinking Behaviors. American Journal of Health Behavior, 48(3), 725-733.
Park, H., & An, J. (2024). The Analysis of Mortality Rates by Income Levels and its Implications for Income Redistribution under the National Pension Scheme. Journal of Pension Studies, 14(1), 59-75. (In Korean) - Granted by the Korea Pension Association
An, J., & Park, H. (2024). The Effect of Public Pension Benefit on Individuals' Economics Satisfaction and Expectation. Journal of Pension Studies, 14(1), 121-140. (In Korean) - Granted by the Korea Pension Association
Kim, D., An, J., & Seong, M. (2020). A Behavioral Analysis of Private Pension Consumers: Do Individuals Supplement Public Pensions with Private Pensions? Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, 40(2), 556-580. (In Korean)
Kim, D., Lee, D., & An, J. (2019). Contributions of the National Pension Scheme to Retirement Stability: Expectations and Reality. The Journal of Risk Management, 30(3), 87-115. (In Korean)