Essays in Public Economics and Behavioral Health

Abstract

Opioid use disorder, major depressive disorder and suicidal behaviors are sources of immense human suffering and therefore important objects of study in economics. This dissertation examines sources of social endogeneity for these disorders, from the opioid prescribing behavior of surgical residents to the environmental features of graduate economics programs. The dissertation utilizes conceptual frameworks from behavioral economics and the toolkit applied econometrics to characterize particular features of the relationship between society and individual health.