Table 1.

Variable Definitions and Descriptive Statistics

Variable	Description	Range and/or Values	Mean (SD) or %
Dependent variable
Health index 1996	0–100 index of self-reported health status, in 1996. Based on rankings of overall health, number of physical limitations, and pain	0–100	77.90 (22.49)
Insurance status	Insurance status as of 1992, dichotomized as privately insured or uninsured	0 = uninsured	83.00
		1 = Private	17.00
Health status equation
Independent variables (1992)
Age	Age in years	45–64	55.34 (4.17)
Race/ethnicity	Binary indicators	1 = white/other	77.77
		2 = black	14.34
		3 = Hispanic	7.89
Female	Binary indicator	0 = male	44.53
		1 = female	55.47
Marital status	Binary indicator of marital status in 1992	0 = not married	17.52
		1 = married	82.48
Education	Education in years categorized as follows: less than 9, 9–11, high school graduate or equivalent (GED), some college (more than 12 years)	1 = 0–8	10.57
		2 = 9–11	14.95
		3 = 12 or GED	36.31
	Binary indicators	4 = ≥12	38.17
Income-to-needs ratio	Ratio of 1992 total household income to 1991 DHHS poverty guidelines, adjusted for family size.	1 = ≤1.00	5.26
		2 = 1.00–1.49	4.54
		3 = 1.50–1.99	5.72
		4 = 2.00–2.99	13.71
	Binary indicators	5 = 3.00–4.99	27.44
		6 = ≥or = 5.00	43.33
Smoking status	Self-reported smoking behavior as of 1992 categorized as never smoked, past smoker, and current smoker	1 = never	37.94
		2 = past smoker	36.07
		3 = current	25.99
Alcohol consumption	Self-reported drinking behavior categorized by the number of drinks per day. “Moderate” drinking is defined as ≤2 drinks; “Heavy” drinking is defined as ≥3 drinks	1 = abstainer	37.58
		2 = moderate	57.56
		3 = heavy	4.86
Body mass index quintile	Body mass index (BMI) as of 1992 categorized by quintile. This the classic calculation of body weight for height, where BMI = kg/m2.	Quintile 1	21.15 (1.45)
		Quintile 2	24.18 (0.67)
		Quintile 3	26.37 (0.62)
		Quintile 4	28.90 (0.91)
	Binary indicators, quintile means reported	Quintile 5	34.69 (4.41)
Health index 1992	Control variable for baseline health status in 1992	0–100	76.89 (21.58)
Participation equation
Additional instruments (1992)
Unionization	State unionization rates, percent (area resource file)		15.30 (6.86)
Unemployment	State unemployment rate, percent (area resource file)		7.57 (1.42)
State tax	Average state+federal tax rate on wages or earned income, percent (TAXSIM data file, National Bureau of Economic Research).		26.56 (3.03)