Abstract
We study the effect of state recreational marijuana laws (RMLs) on workers’ compensation (WC) benefit receipt among adults 40-62 years. We find that WC receipt declines in response to RML adoption both in terms of the propensity to receive benefits and benefit amount. We estimate complementary declines in non-traumatic workplace injury rates and the incidence of worklimiting disabilities. We offer evidence that the primary driver of these reductions is an improvement in work capacity, likely due to access to an additional form of pain management therapy.
Rahi Abouk William Paterson University Department of Economics, Finance, and Global Business 300 Pompton Road Wayne, NJ 07470 [email protected]
Keshar M. Ghimire Business and Economics Department University of Cincinnati – Blue Ash 9555 Plainfield Road Blue Ash, OH 45236 USA [email protected] Johanna
Catherine Maclean Department of Economics Temple University Ritter Annex 869 Philadelphia, PA 19122 and NBER [email protected]
David Powell RAND Corporation 1776 Main Street P.O. Box 2138 Santa Monica, CA 90407 [email protected]
Paper
w28471
