Arthritis and the earnings of men. An analysis incorporating selection bias

Arthritis is a chronic and crippling disease which affects the work effort and earnings of more than 14 million working-age victims. This paper examines the effects of arthritis on the earnings of men aged 18 to 64. Arthritis has large and significant effects on earnings. Most models incorporating selection bias have examined groups with lower labor force participation rates than prime-age males, but significant selection bias is found here. When selection bias is considered, the estimated absolute effects of arthritis are increased and the percentage of the gap between arthritic and non-arthritic males explained by arthritis, as opposed to other factors, increases. This study is unusual in identifying the effects of a single disease on earnings.