Effects of wages on smoking decisions of current and past smokers.

PURPOSE: We used longitudinal data and instrumental variables (IVs) in a prospective design to test for the causal effects of wages on smoking prevalence among current and past smokers. METHODS: Nationally representative U.S. data were drawn from the 1999-2009 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Our overall sample was restricted to full time employed persons, aged 21-65 years. We excluded part time workers and youths because smoking and wage correlations would be complicated by labor supply decisions. We excluded adult never smokers because people rarely begin smoking after the age of 20 years. IVs were created with state-level minimum wages and unionization rates. We analyzed subsamples of men, women, the less educated, the more educated, quitters, and backsliders. Validity and strength of instruments within the IV analysis were conducted with the Sargan-Hansen J statistic and F tests. RESULTS: We found some evidence that low wages lead to more smoking in the overall sample and substantial evidence for men, persons with high school educations or less (<13 years of schooling), and quitters. Results indicated that 10% increases in wages lead to 5.5 and 4.6 percentage point decreases in smoking for men and the less educated; they also increased the average chance of quitting among base-year smokers from 17.0% to 20.4%. Statistical tests suggested that IVs were strong and valid in most samples. Subjects' other family income, including spouses' wages, was entered as a control variable. CONCLUSIONS: Increases in an individual's wages, independent of other income, decreased the prevalence of smoking among current and past smokers.

Stability of vocational interests after recent spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to identify the stability of vocational interests among persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) first assessed during inpatient rehabilitation. DESIGN: Initial assessments were completed during inpatient rehabilitation an average of 50 days after SCI onset (n = 521). Follow-up measures, collected by mail, were obtained an average of 16.6 months postinjury (n = 190) and 29.1 months postinjury (n = 296). Participants (n = 135) completed all 3 assessments. Participants completed the 1994 Strong Interest Inventory (Campbell, 1971; Harmon, Hansen, Borgen, & Hammer, 1994), Form T317, a 317-item measure of vocational interests. RESULTS: Comparison of scale means across 3 times of measurement indicated significant changes in 2 of 6 general occupational themes (GOT), 8 basic interest scales (BIS), and 2 special scales (leadership style, risk taking/adventure). With 1 exception, a linear trend indicating an increase in reported interests accounted for observed relationships. An age by time interaction occurred with 1 GOT and 3 BIS. The average stability coefficient was 0.61 for the GOT, 0.59 for the BIS, and 0.70 for the special scales. The average coefficients were somewhat lower for the oldest participants. CONCLUSION: Interests do not appear to be static when first measured during inpatient rehabilitation after SCI. Rather, they evolve with average increases on select themes more compatible with the limitations of SCI. Stability coefficients suggest that interests are likely to change more than indicated in earlier studies.