%0 Report
        %A Daysal, N. Meltem
%A Orsini, Chiara
        %T The Miracle Drugs: Hormone Replacement Therapy and Labor Market Behavior of Middle-Aged Women
        %D 2014
        %8 2014 Feb
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 7993
        %U https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp7993
        %X In an aging society, determining which factors contribute to the employment of older individuals is increasingly important. We examine the impact of medical innovations on the employment of middle-aged women focusing on the specific case of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), a common treatment for the alleviation of negative menopausal symptoms. HRT medications were among the most popular prescriptions in the United States until 2002 when the Women's Health Initiative Study – the largest randomized control trial on women ever undertaken – documented the health risks associated with their long term use. We exploit the release of these findings within a Fixed Effect Instrumental Variable framework to address the endogeneity in HRT use. Our results indicate substantial benefits of HRT use to the short-term employment of middle-aged women.
        %K employment
%K pharmaceutical treatments
%K Hormone Replacement Therapy