Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/265795 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 15574
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
There have been more than 500,000 opioid overdose deaths since 2000. To analyze the opioid epidemic, a model is constructed where individuals choose whether to use opioids recreationally, knowing the probabilities of addiction and dying. These odds are functions of recreational opioid usage. Markov chains are estimated from the US data for the college and non-college educated that summarize the transitions into and out of opioid addiction as well as to a deadly overdose. The structural model is constructed to match the estimated Markov chains. The epidemic's drivers and the impact of medical interventions are examined.
Subjects: 
addiction
college/non-college educated
deaths
fentanyl
Markov chain
medical interventions
opioids
OxyContin
pain
prices
state-contingent preferences
structural model
subjective and objective beliefs
JEL: 
D11
D12
E13
I12
I14
I31
J11
J17
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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