Leslie Boden | Boston University (original) (raw)
Papers by Leslie Boden
American Journal of Industrial Medicine, Nov 1, 1999
This is the first study based on individual data to estimate earnings lost from virtually all rep... more This is the first study based on individual data to estimate earnings lost from virtually all reported workplace injuries and illnesses in a state. We estimated lost earnings from workplace injuries and illnesses occurring in Wisconsin in 1989-90, using workers' compensation data and 6 years of unemployment insurance wage data. We used regression techniques to estimate losses relative to a comparison group. The average present value of losses projected 10 years past the observed period is over 8,000perinjury.Womenloseagreaterproportionoftheirpreinjuryearningsthandomen.Replacementofafter−taxprojectedlossesaverages648,000 per injury. Women lose a greater proportion of their preinjury earnings than do men. Replacement of after-tax projected losses averages 64% for men and 50% for women. Overall, workers with compensated injuries and illnesses experienced discounted pre-tax losses projected to total over 8,000perinjury.Womenloseagreaterproportionoftheirpreinjuryearningsthandomen.Replacementofafter−taxprojectedlossesaverages64530,000,000 (1994 dollars), with about 60% of after-tax losses replaced by workers' compensation. Generally, groups losing over eight weeks' work received workers' compensation benefits covering less than 40% of their losses.
Women and men injured at work in Wisconsin during 1989 and 1990 have similar levels of lost earni... more Women and men injured at work in Wisconsin during 1989 and 1990 have similar levels of lost earnings in the quarter of injury. However, in the three and one-half years after the post-injury quarter, women lose an average of 9.2 percent of earnings, while men lose only 6.5 percent. Even after accounting for covariates with a variant of the Oaxaca-Blinder-
Studies suggest that income replacement is low for many workers with serious occupational injurie... more Studies suggest that income replacement is low for many workers with serious occupational injuries and illnesses. This review discusses three areas that hold promise for raising benefits to workers while reducing workers' compensation costs to employers: improving safety, containing medical costs, and reducing litigation. In theory, workers' compensation increases the costs to employers of injuries and so provides incentives to improve safety. Yet, taken as a whole, research does not provide convincing evidence that workers' compensation reduces injury rates. Moreover, unlike safety and health regulation, workers' compensation focuses the attention of employers on individual workers. High costs may lead employers to discourage claims and litigate when claims are filed. Controlling medical costs can reduce workers' compensation costs. Most studies, however, have focused on costs and have not addressed the effectiveness of medical care or patient satisfaction. Research also has shown that workers' compensation systems can reduce the need for litigation. Without litigation, benefits can be delivered more quickly and at lower costs.
American Journal of Public Health, 1981
... Biddle, Jeff E., Leslie I. Boden and Robert T. Reville. ... Biddle, Jeff E., Leslie I. Boden ... more ... Biddle, Jeff E., Leslie I. Boden and Robert T. Reville. ... Biddle, Jeff E., Leslie I. Boden and Robert T. Reville, Permanent Partial Disability from Occupational Injuries: Earnings Losses and Replacement in Three States, Santa Monica, Calif: RAND Corporation, RP-939-ICJ, 2001. ...
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
Comparing the outcomes of workplace injuries in three states-California, Washington, and Wisconsi... more Comparing the outcomes of workplace injuries in three states-California, Washington, and Wisconsin-suggests that older workers are more likely than their younger counterparts to have permanent disabilities as a result of those injuries. This is true even though older workers have fewer workplace accidents. In addition, older workers suffer larger wage losses over the first few years after injury, they have lower replacement rates from workers' compensation benefits, and they experience more injury-related days of non-employment.
American journal of industrial medicine, 2015
Patient-care workers are frequently exposed to sharps injuries, which can involve the risk of ser... more Patient-care workers are frequently exposed to sharps injuries, which can involve the risk of serious illness. Underreporting of these injuries can compromise prevention efforts. We linked survey responses of 1,572 non-physician patient-care workers with the Occupational Health Services (OHS) database at two academic hospitals. We determined whether survey respondents who said they had sharps injuries indicated that they had reported them and whether reported injuries were recorded in the OHS database. Respondents said that they reported 62 of 78 sharps injuries occurring over a 12-month period. Only 28 appeared in the OHS data. Safety practices were positively associated with respondents' saying they reported sharps injuries but not with whether reported injuries appeared in the OHS data. Administrators should consider creating reporting mechanisms that are simpler and more direct. Administrators and researchers should attempt to understand how incidents might be lost before th...
Environmental Research, 2008
BackgroundIt has been hypothesized that socioeconomic status may act as an effect modifier of the... more BackgroundIt has been hypothesized that socioeconomic status may act as an effect modifier of the association between air pollution and health. In this study, we investigated whether income inequality may modify the association between fine particulate pollution and self-reported health.
Environmental Science & Technology, 2009
We conducted a sensitivity analysis of the commonly employed pressure-based direct integrity test... more We conducted a sensitivity analysis of the commonly employed pressure-based direct integrity test (DIT), the most sensitive test for defects in low-pressure hollow fiber (LPHF) microfiltration and ultrafiltration systems used in drinking water treatment. Incorporating uncertainty to assess the practice of DIT, we find the resolution in some tests may be insufficient to verify the presence of a barrier to oocysts of Cryptosporidium. Applying distributions and boundaries derived from literature and practice, we solved for the defect size resolution (DSR) using Monte Carlo and Probability Bounds Analysis for five commercial membrane designs. Surface tension was modeled using annual temperature profiles from three rivers. Contact angle measurement error and variability were derived from literature, respectively, as a standard deviation of 5.7 degrees and +/- 9.6 degrees median change due to natural organic matter (NOM) fouling. These measures of contact angle uncertainty and variability were combined in a normal distribution with the discrete values currently applied. Additionally we considered model uncertainty, applying the maximum bubble pressure method, an established method of surface tension measurement in liquids in which the maximum air pressure in a submerged capillary is developed after the contact angle becomes zero prior to bubble formation. Where the DSR exceeds 3 microm the test design is not compliant with applicable drinking water regulations. Implications include uncertain and variable log-removal values (LRV) as determined by DIT due to the possible emergence of defects large enough to allow oocysts to pass without detection by the DIT. Specifically, we found the DSR may exceed 3 microm and may be as large as 8 microm. With the variable contact angle model, all lower bound possibilities are compliant, whereas the upper bound is over 80% noncompliant for three of five commercial designs. Using the Maximum Bubble Pressure Method, the lower bounds in three designs start to exceed 3 microm for between 50 and 100% of the produced water, whereas the upper bounds of the DSR completely exceed 3 microm for four of five commercial designs examined.
Review of Economics and Statistics, 2003
In the 1990s, many states passed workers' compensation laws to control cost growth. Usin... more In the 1990s, many states passed workers' compensation laws to control cost growth. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we determine the impact of these laws on the frequency of reported workplace injuries. In response to restrictions that make it more difficult to file claims, reported days-away-from-work injuries decline, accounting for between 7.0% and 9.4% of the dramatic fall in their frequency in 1991-1997. At the same time, these filing disincentives appear to account for 6.8% of the increase in cases with only restricted work activity, although the evidence is weaker for these injuries. Restricting workers' choice of medical care provider did not appear to reduce the frequency of cases in any nonfatal injury category. © 2003 President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Social Science & Medicine, 2004
This paper considers occupational back injuries as they are described by injured workers, includi... more This paper considers occupational back injuries as they are described by injured workers, including the impact on their abilities to function in family and social roles. In this study, we interviewed people with work-related back injuries in Florida and Wisconsin. The sample was chosen from among workers who either lost more than 28 days from work or who received workers' compensation permanent partial disability benefits. Respondents indicated a wide range of limitations on family and social roles, including physical impacts that hampered respondents' ability to do household chores, to take part in raising children, and to engage in leisure activities with their spouses. Spouses and children took over family responsibilities once carried on by injured workers. The impacts of limitations resulted in a restructuring of family and social roles, relationships, and self-identities. In addition, these impacts led to depression and anger among the injured workers and to stress and strain in family relationships. Unlike the effects on work, many of these outcomes are not valued in the marketplace and, as a consequence, are less visible. They are nonetheless important and suggest that priorities based only on economic outcomes may understate the importance of preventive activities. Moreover, they suggest that attention should be focused on social structural factors such as the provision of medical services and social support to reduce the impact of chronic back pain on family members.
Social Science & Medicine, 1988
The U.S. system for determining liability for environmental disease requires plaintiffs to demons... more The U.S. system for determining liability for environmental disease requires plaintiffs to demonstrate that the defendant was the legal cause of their illnesses. The determination of cause takes place in an adversary setting. Both sides in the dispute present evidence about causation to a lay judge or jury, who is responsible for deciding whether the defendant is legally responsible. In injury cases this generally means providing evidence of a specific, concrete event or condition that gave rise to the plaintiff's harm. Environmental disease usually presents a very different picture, one in which there is considerable uncertainty about the relationship between exposure to toxic substances and the plaintiff's disease. Scientific evidence about this uncertain link is often an essential part of the case. The reliance on scientific evidence appears to present almost insurmountable problems of proof of causation to the plaintiff. The law requires the plaintiff to demonstrate that, without the defendant's action, the harm would not have occurred. This strict requirement appears incompatible with the substantial scientific uncertainty about the cause of many environmental diseases. A second attribute of legal causation is that it is based on common experience, and is easily understood by lay citizens who are likely to be the final arbiters of causation. Scientific explanations of environmental disease causation, on the other hand, may not draw on common experience and may not have the intuitive appeal necessary to convince a lay decision-maker. Because scientific evidence of causation is difficult for a lay judge or jury to understand, and because of the adversary use of experts with very different opinions about causation, it might be expected that plaintiffs would have a great deal of difficulty demonstrating causation in environmental liability cases. However, the U.S. legal system appears to have accommodated to the plaintiff's difficulty in meeting the formal burden of persuasion. The courts allow juries considerable leeway in using their own experience and beliefs to determine causation, as long as there is some scientific evidence to support the plaintiff's contention. The U.S. environmental disease liability system has been criticized by some for plaintiffs' difficulty in proving causation and by others because plaintiffs can win cases without evidence that would be convincing to a scientist.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
New England Journal of Medicine, 1976
Public-Health Rounds at the Harvard School of Public Health from The New England Journal of Medic... more Public-Health Rounds at the Harvard School of Public Health from The New England Journal of Medicine Vinyl Chloride: Can the Worker Be Protected?
Labour Economics, 2003
This study represents the first analysis of the return to work of an entire population of workers... more This study represents the first analysis of the return to work of an entire population of workers with job-related injuries. Duration estimates indicate that returning to the pre-injury employer is one of the main determinants of the speed of return to work. The worker's pre-injury employment history also plays a large role, while the elasticities of the economic incentives vary across injury lengths and model specifications. The length of time off work is an important determinant of the probability of being employed 1 year after the first return to work. Results do not differ by gender. D
American Journal of Industrial Medicine, Nov 1, 1999
This is the first study based on individual data to estimate earnings lost from virtually all rep... more This is the first study based on individual data to estimate earnings lost from virtually all reported workplace injuries and illnesses in a state. We estimated lost earnings from workplace injuries and illnesses occurring in Wisconsin in 1989-90, using workers' compensation data and 6 years of unemployment insurance wage data. We used regression techniques to estimate losses relative to a comparison group. The average present value of losses projected 10 years past the observed period is over 8,000perinjury.Womenloseagreaterproportionoftheirpreinjuryearningsthandomen.Replacementofafter−taxprojectedlossesaverages648,000 per injury. Women lose a greater proportion of their preinjury earnings than do men. Replacement of after-tax projected losses averages 64% for men and 50% for women. Overall, workers with compensated injuries and illnesses experienced discounted pre-tax losses projected to total over 8,000perinjury.Womenloseagreaterproportionoftheirpreinjuryearningsthandomen.Replacementofafter−taxprojectedlossesaverages64530,000,000 (1994 dollars), with about 60% of after-tax losses replaced by workers' compensation. Generally, groups losing over eight weeks' work received workers' compensation benefits covering less than 40% of their losses.
Women and men injured at work in Wisconsin during 1989 and 1990 have similar levels of lost earni... more Women and men injured at work in Wisconsin during 1989 and 1990 have similar levels of lost earnings in the quarter of injury. However, in the three and one-half years after the post-injury quarter, women lose an average of 9.2 percent of earnings, while men lose only 6.5 percent. Even after accounting for covariates with a variant of the Oaxaca-Blinder-
Studies suggest that income replacement is low for many workers with serious occupational injurie... more Studies suggest that income replacement is low for many workers with serious occupational injuries and illnesses. This review discusses three areas that hold promise for raising benefits to workers while reducing workers' compensation costs to employers: improving safety, containing medical costs, and reducing litigation. In theory, workers' compensation increases the costs to employers of injuries and so provides incentives to improve safety. Yet, taken as a whole, research does not provide convincing evidence that workers' compensation reduces injury rates. Moreover, unlike safety and health regulation, workers' compensation focuses the attention of employers on individual workers. High costs may lead employers to discourage claims and litigate when claims are filed. Controlling medical costs can reduce workers' compensation costs. Most studies, however, have focused on costs and have not addressed the effectiveness of medical care or patient satisfaction. Research also has shown that workers' compensation systems can reduce the need for litigation. Without litigation, benefits can be delivered more quickly and at lower costs.
American Journal of Public Health, 1981
... Biddle, Jeff E., Leslie I. Boden and Robert T. Reville. ... Biddle, Jeff E., Leslie I. Boden ... more ... Biddle, Jeff E., Leslie I. Boden and Robert T. Reville. ... Biddle, Jeff E., Leslie I. Boden and Robert T. Reville, Permanent Partial Disability from Occupational Injuries: Earnings Losses and Replacement in Three States, Santa Monica, Calif: RAND Corporation, RP-939-ICJ, 2001. ...
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
Comparing the outcomes of workplace injuries in three states-California, Washington, and Wisconsi... more Comparing the outcomes of workplace injuries in three states-California, Washington, and Wisconsin-suggests that older workers are more likely than their younger counterparts to have permanent disabilities as a result of those injuries. This is true even though older workers have fewer workplace accidents. In addition, older workers suffer larger wage losses over the first few years after injury, they have lower replacement rates from workers' compensation benefits, and they experience more injury-related days of non-employment.
American journal of industrial medicine, 2015
Patient-care workers are frequently exposed to sharps injuries, which can involve the risk of ser... more Patient-care workers are frequently exposed to sharps injuries, which can involve the risk of serious illness. Underreporting of these injuries can compromise prevention efforts. We linked survey responses of 1,572 non-physician patient-care workers with the Occupational Health Services (OHS) database at two academic hospitals. We determined whether survey respondents who said they had sharps injuries indicated that they had reported them and whether reported injuries were recorded in the OHS database. Respondents said that they reported 62 of 78 sharps injuries occurring over a 12-month period. Only 28 appeared in the OHS data. Safety practices were positively associated with respondents' saying they reported sharps injuries but not with whether reported injuries appeared in the OHS data. Administrators should consider creating reporting mechanisms that are simpler and more direct. Administrators and researchers should attempt to understand how incidents might be lost before th...
Environmental Research, 2008
BackgroundIt has been hypothesized that socioeconomic status may act as an effect modifier of the... more BackgroundIt has been hypothesized that socioeconomic status may act as an effect modifier of the association between air pollution and health. In this study, we investigated whether income inequality may modify the association between fine particulate pollution and self-reported health.
Environmental Science & Technology, 2009
We conducted a sensitivity analysis of the commonly employed pressure-based direct integrity test... more We conducted a sensitivity analysis of the commonly employed pressure-based direct integrity test (DIT), the most sensitive test for defects in low-pressure hollow fiber (LPHF) microfiltration and ultrafiltration systems used in drinking water treatment. Incorporating uncertainty to assess the practice of DIT, we find the resolution in some tests may be insufficient to verify the presence of a barrier to oocysts of Cryptosporidium. Applying distributions and boundaries derived from literature and practice, we solved for the defect size resolution (DSR) using Monte Carlo and Probability Bounds Analysis for five commercial membrane designs. Surface tension was modeled using annual temperature profiles from three rivers. Contact angle measurement error and variability were derived from literature, respectively, as a standard deviation of 5.7 degrees and +/- 9.6 degrees median change due to natural organic matter (NOM) fouling. These measures of contact angle uncertainty and variability were combined in a normal distribution with the discrete values currently applied. Additionally we considered model uncertainty, applying the maximum bubble pressure method, an established method of surface tension measurement in liquids in which the maximum air pressure in a submerged capillary is developed after the contact angle becomes zero prior to bubble formation. Where the DSR exceeds 3 microm the test design is not compliant with applicable drinking water regulations. Implications include uncertain and variable log-removal values (LRV) as determined by DIT due to the possible emergence of defects large enough to allow oocysts to pass without detection by the DIT. Specifically, we found the DSR may exceed 3 microm and may be as large as 8 microm. With the variable contact angle model, all lower bound possibilities are compliant, whereas the upper bound is over 80% noncompliant for three of five commercial designs. Using the Maximum Bubble Pressure Method, the lower bounds in three designs start to exceed 3 microm for between 50 and 100% of the produced water, whereas the upper bounds of the DSR completely exceed 3 microm for four of five commercial designs examined.
Review of Economics and Statistics, 2003
In the 1990s, many states passed workers' compensation laws to control cost growth. Usin... more In the 1990s, many states passed workers' compensation laws to control cost growth. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we determine the impact of these laws on the frequency of reported workplace injuries. In response to restrictions that make it more difficult to file claims, reported days-away-from-work injuries decline, accounting for between 7.0% and 9.4% of the dramatic fall in their frequency in 1991-1997. At the same time, these filing disincentives appear to account for 6.8% of the increase in cases with only restricted work activity, although the evidence is weaker for these injuries. Restricting workers' choice of medical care provider did not appear to reduce the frequency of cases in any nonfatal injury category. © 2003 President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Social Science & Medicine, 2004
This paper considers occupational back injuries as they are described by injured workers, includi... more This paper considers occupational back injuries as they are described by injured workers, including the impact on their abilities to function in family and social roles. In this study, we interviewed people with work-related back injuries in Florida and Wisconsin. The sample was chosen from among workers who either lost more than 28 days from work or who received workers' compensation permanent partial disability benefits. Respondents indicated a wide range of limitations on family and social roles, including physical impacts that hampered respondents' ability to do household chores, to take part in raising children, and to engage in leisure activities with their spouses. Spouses and children took over family responsibilities once carried on by injured workers. The impacts of limitations resulted in a restructuring of family and social roles, relationships, and self-identities. In addition, these impacts led to depression and anger among the injured workers and to stress and strain in family relationships. Unlike the effects on work, many of these outcomes are not valued in the marketplace and, as a consequence, are less visible. They are nonetheless important and suggest that priorities based only on economic outcomes may understate the importance of preventive activities. Moreover, they suggest that attention should be focused on social structural factors such as the provision of medical services and social support to reduce the impact of chronic back pain on family members.
Social Science & Medicine, 1988
The U.S. system for determining liability for environmental disease requires plaintiffs to demons... more The U.S. system for determining liability for environmental disease requires plaintiffs to demonstrate that the defendant was the legal cause of their illnesses. The determination of cause takes place in an adversary setting. Both sides in the dispute present evidence about causation to a lay judge or jury, who is responsible for deciding whether the defendant is legally responsible. In injury cases this generally means providing evidence of a specific, concrete event or condition that gave rise to the plaintiff's harm. Environmental disease usually presents a very different picture, one in which there is considerable uncertainty about the relationship between exposure to toxic substances and the plaintiff's disease. Scientific evidence about this uncertain link is often an essential part of the case. The reliance on scientific evidence appears to present almost insurmountable problems of proof of causation to the plaintiff. The law requires the plaintiff to demonstrate that, without the defendant's action, the harm would not have occurred. This strict requirement appears incompatible with the substantial scientific uncertainty about the cause of many environmental diseases. A second attribute of legal causation is that it is based on common experience, and is easily understood by lay citizens who are likely to be the final arbiters of causation. Scientific explanations of environmental disease causation, on the other hand, may not draw on common experience and may not have the intuitive appeal necessary to convince a lay decision-maker. Because scientific evidence of causation is difficult for a lay judge or jury to understand, and because of the adversary use of experts with very different opinions about causation, it might be expected that plaintiffs would have a great deal of difficulty demonstrating causation in environmental liability cases. However, the U.S. legal system appears to have accommodated to the plaintiff's difficulty in meeting the formal burden of persuasion. The courts allow juries considerable leeway in using their own experience and beliefs to determine causation, as long as there is some scientific evidence to support the plaintiff's contention. The U.S. environmental disease liability system has been criticized by some for plaintiffs' difficulty in proving causation and by others because plaintiffs can win cases without evidence that would be convincing to a scientist.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
New England Journal of Medicine, 1976
Public-Health Rounds at the Harvard School of Public Health from The New England Journal of Medic... more Public-Health Rounds at the Harvard School of Public Health from The New England Journal of Medicine Vinyl Chloride: Can the Worker Be Protected?
Labour Economics, 2003
This study represents the first analysis of the return to work of an entire population of workers... more This study represents the first analysis of the return to work of an entire population of workers with job-related injuries. Duration estimates indicate that returning to the pre-injury employer is one of the main determinants of the speed of return to work. The worker's pre-injury employment history also plays a large role, while the elasticities of the economic incentives vary across injury lengths and model specifications. The length of time off work is an important determinant of the probability of being employed 1 year after the first return to work. Results do not differ by gender. D