Nicolas R. Ziebarth
Nicolas R. Ziebarth
Associate Professor, Brooks School of Public Policy
Sloan
Office

2218 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall

Phone

Biography

Professor Ziebarth is an economist whose research focuses on health, public and labor economics. Dr. Ziebarth studies the interaction of (social) insurance systems with labor markets and population health. Another focus of Dr. Ziebarth's work is the driving forces and implications of risky health behavior such as smoking, drinking, or overeating.

In particular, Nicolas Ziebarth is an international expert on the economics of sick leave. Over the past years, his sick leave research has been featured by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the WHO or the Economist, and cited as a reason for the Healthy Families Act, the initial FFCRA emergency sick leave provision as well as its extension

Dr. Ziebarth has won several awards for his research. According to RePEc, he ranks among the top 0.5% of young economists with less than 15 years of research activity.

At Cornell, Professor Ziebarth teaches a comparative health care system course for undergraduate students (PAM 3870), a Sloan MHA introductory course to the U.S. health care system (PAM 5570), and the second sequence of health economics for PhD students (PAM 6420).

Professor Ziebarth is Associate Director of the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures

PAM 3780: Sick Around the World? Comparing Health Care Systems Around the World (Undergraduate Level)

PAM 5570: Health Care Organizations (Sloan MHA Program)

PAM 6420: Health Economics II (PhD Program)

A. U.S. Sick Leave

Jelliffe, E., Pangburn, P., Pichler, S. and N. R. Ziebarth (2021): "Awareness and Use of (Emergency) Sick Leave: US employees’ Unaddressed Sick Leave Needs in a Global Pandemic," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118 (29): e2107670118.

Pichler, S., Wen, K. and N. R. Ziebarth (2021): "Positive Health Externalities of Mandating Paid Sick Leave," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 40(3): 715-743.

Maclean, C., Pichler, S. and N. R. Ziebarth (2021): “Mandated Sick Pay: Coverage, Utilization, and Welfare Effects,” NBER Working Paper No. 26832, under review,

Pichler, S., Wen, K. and N. R. Ziebarth (2020): “COVID-19 Emergency Sick Leave Has Helped to Flatten the Curve,” Health Affairs, 39(12). [Fact sheet by the Center for Equitable Growth]

Pichler, S. and N. R. Ziebarth (2020): "Labor Market Effects of US Sick Pay Mandates," Journal of Human Resources, 55(2): 611-659. 

Pichler, S. and N. R. Ziebarth (2020): "Sick Leave and Medical Leave in the United States: A Categorization and Recent Trends,” in Mathur, A. and C. Ruhm (Eds.): Paid Leave for Illness, Medical leave and Disabilities, Chapter 3, pages 31-59, first edition, AEI-Brookings Paid Leave Project, November 2020.

Pichler, S. and N. R. Ziebarth (2017): "The Pros and Cons of Sick Pay Schemes: Testing for Contagious Presenteeism and Noncontagious Absenteeism Behavior," Journal of Public Economics, 156: 14-33.

B.  Other Research

Atal, J.P.; Fang, H.; Karlsson, M.; and N. R. Ziebarth (2021): “Long-Term Health Insurance: Theory Meets Evidence,” NBER Working Paper No. 26870. revise & resubmit, Journal of Political Economy.

Hackmann, M., Pohl, V. and N.R. Ziebarth (2021): “Patient vs. Provider Incentives in Long Term Care,” revise & resubmit, American Economic Journal: Applied Economic

Marcus, J., Siedler, T. and N. R. Ziebarth (2021): "The Long-Run Effects of Sports Club Vouchers for Primary School Children,” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, forthcoming.

Werbeck, A.; Wübker, A., and N. R Ziebarth (2021): “Cream-Skimming by Health Care Providers and Inequality in Health Care Access: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment,” Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 188: 1325-1350.

Arni, P., Dragone, D., Goette, L. and N. R Ziebarth (2021): “Biased Health Perceptions and Risky Health Behaviors,” Journal of Health Economics, 76: 102425

Jin, L. and N. R. Ziebarth (2020): "Sleep, Health, and Human Capital: Evidence from Daylight Saving Time," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. 170: 174-192 

Atal, J. P; Fang, H.; Karlsson, M.;  and N. R. Ziebarth (2019): "Exit, Voice, or Loyalty? An Investigation into Mandated Portability of Front-Loaded Private Health Plans," Journal of Risk & Insurance, 86(3): 697-727.

Guardado, J. R. and N. R. Ziebarth (2019): "Worker Investment in Safety, Workplace Accidents, and Compensating Wage Differentials," International Economic Review, 60(1): 133-155.

Dolan, P., Kavetsos, G., Krekel, C., Mavridis, D., Metcalfe, R., Senik, C., Szymanski, S. and N. R. Ziebarth (2019): "Quantifying the Intangible Impact of the Olympics Using Subjective Well-Being Data," Journal of Public Economics, 177: 104043.

Jones, L. E., and N. R. Ziebarth (2017): "US Child Safety Seat Laws: Are They Effective, and Who Complies?" Journal of Policy Analysis & Management, 36(3), 584–607.

Dragone, D., and N. R. Ziebarth (2017): "Non-Separable Time Preferences, Novelty Consumption, and Body Weight: Theory and Evidence from the East German Transition to Capitalism" Journal of Health Economics, 51: 41-65.  

Pilny, A., Wübker, A., and N. R. Ziebarth (2017): "Introducing Risk Adjustment and Free Health Plan Choice in Employer-Based Health Insurance: Evidence from Germany," Journal of Health Economics, 56: 330-351. 

Schmitz, H., and N. R. Ziebarth (2017): "Does Price Framing Affect the Consumer Price Sensitivity of Health Plan Choice?" Journal of Human Resources, 52(1): 89-128.

C. All Publications By Field of Research

Overview chapter: 

Ziebarth, N. R. (2018): "Social Insurance and Health," Baltagi, B. H. and Moscone, F. [Eds.] (2018):  Health Econometrics (Contributions to Economic Analysis - Volume 294), Emerald, 1. Edition, Chapter 3 (pp: 57-84). [full text available hereEmerald Literati Award 2019

I. SICK LEAVE

Refereed publications and work-in-progress:

Jelliffe, E., Pangburn, P., Pichler, S. and N. R. Ziebarth (2021): "Awareness and Use of (Emergency) Sick Leave: US employees’ Unaddressed Sick Leave Needs in a Global Pandemic," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118 (29): e2107670118.

Maclean, C., Pichler, S. and N. R. Ziebarth (2021): “Mandated Sick Pay: Coverage, Utilization, and Welfare Effects,” previous version published as NBER Working Paper 26832.

Pichler, S., Wen, K. and N. R. Ziebarth (2021): "Positive Health Externalities of Mandating Paid Sick Leave," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 40(3): 715-743.

Pichler, S., Wen, K. and N. R. Ziebarth (2020): “COVID-19 Emergency Sick Leave Has Helped to Flatten the Curve,” Health Affairs. 39(12). 

Pichler, S. and N. R. Ziebarth (2020): "Sick Leave and Medical Leave in the United States: A Categorization and Recent Trends,” in Mathur, A. and C. Ruhm (Eds.): Paid Leave for Illness, Medical leave and Disabilities, Chapter 3, pages 31-59, first edition, AEI-Brookings Paid Leave Project, November 2020.

Pichler, S. and N. R. Ziebarth (2020): "Labor Market Effects of US Sick Pay Mandates," Journal of Human Resources, 55(2): 611-659. [JHR paper available here]

Pichler, S. and N. R. Ziebarth (2017): "The Pros and Cons of Sick Pay Schemes: Testing for Contagious Presenteeism and Noncontagious Absenteeism Behavior," Journal of Public Economics, 156: 14-33. [ReprintHealth Economics Science Award 2018

Susser, P. and N. R. Ziebarth (2016): "Profiling the United States Sick Leave Landscape: Presenteeism among Females," Health Services Research, 51(6): 2305-2317. 

Ziebarth, N. R. and M. Karlsson (2014): "The Effects of Expanding the Generosity of the Statutory Sickness Insurance System," Journal of Applied Econometrics, 29(2): 208-230. 

Ziebarth, N. R. (2013): "Long-Term Absenteeism and Moral Hazard – Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Labour Economics, 42: 277-292.  

Ziebarth, N. R. (2010): "Estimating Price Elasticities of Convalescent Care Programmes," The Economic Journal, 120(545): 816-844. Health Economics Science Award 2011 

Ziebarth, N. R. and M. Karlsson (2010): "A Natural Experiment on Sick Pay Cuts, Sickness Absence, and Labor Costs," Journal of Public Economics, 94(11-12): 1108-1122.  

Non-technical non-refereed overview and commentary on U.S. sick pay:

Pichler, S. and N. R. Ziebarth (2021): “Sick? Stay Home!” VoxEU, March 5, 2021

Pichler, S. and N. R. Ziebarth (2020): “Is the US about to Abandon a Cost-Effective Tool in Containing COVID-19—Paid Sick Leave?” The Hill, December 8, 2020

COVID-19 Puts a New Spotlight on Paid Sick Leave,” by Nicolas R. Ziebarth, ASHEcon Newsletter Issue 2020:2

Pichler, S. and N. R. Ziebarth (2019): "Labor Market Effects of U.S. Sick Pay Mandates," Upjohn Institute Employment Research Newsletter, 26(1): 4-6.

Pichler, S. and N. R. Ziebarth (2018): "The Pros and Cons of Sick Pay Schemes: Contagious Presenteeism and Noncontagious Absenteeism Behaviour," VOX CEPR Policy Portal, May 12, 2018

Ziebarth, N. R. and A. Sojourner (2016): “The Case for Mandating Paid Sick Leave in Minneapolis,” Star Tribune, April 19, 2016.

II. HEALTH INSURANCE 

Atal, J.P.; Fang, H.; Karlsson, M.; and N. R. Ziebarth (2021): “Long-Term Health Insurance: Theory Meets Evidence,” NBER Working Paper No. 26870

Hackmann, M., Pohl, V. and N.R. Ziebarth (2020): “Patient vs. Provider Incentives in Long Term Care,” under review

Lavetti, K., DeLeire, T. and N.R. Ziebarth (2021): "How Do Low-Income Enrollees in the Affordable Care Act Exchanges Respond to Cost-Sharing?," NBER Working Paper 26430, revise & resubmit.

Werbeck, A.; Wübker, A., and N. R Ziebarth (2021): “Cream-Skimming by Health Care Providers and Inequality in Health Care Access: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment,” Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, forthcoming.

Kapadia, S. N.; Griffin, J. L.; Waldman, J.; Ziebarth, N. R.; Schackman, B. R.; and C. N Behrends (2021): “A Harm-Reduction Approach to Treating Opioid Use Disorder in an Independent Primary Care Practice,” Journal of General Internal Medicine, forthcoming

Atal, J. P; Fang, H.; Karlsson, M.;  and N. R. Ziebarth (2019): "Exit, Voice, or Loyalty? An Investigation into Mandated Portability of Front-Loaded Private Health Plans," Journal of Risk & Insurance, 86(3): 697-727. [JRI paper available here]  

Bünnings, C., Schmitz, H., Tauchmann, H. and N. R. Ziebarth (2019): "The Role of Prices Relative to Supplemental Benefits and Service Quality in Health Plan Choice," Journal of Risk and Insurance, 86(2): 415-449. [JRI paper II available here]

Pilny, A., Wübker, A., and N. R. Ziebarth (2017): "Introducing Risk Adjustment and Free Health Plan Choice in Employer-Based Health Insurance: Evidence from Germany," Journal of Health Economics, 56: 330-351. [JHE paper available here]  

Schmitz, H., and N. R. Ziebarth (2017): "Does Price Framing Affect the Consumer Price Sensitivity of Health Plan Choice?" Journal of Human Resources, 52(1): 89-128.

Ziebarth, N. R. (2014): "Assessing the Effectiveness of Health Care Cost Containment Measures: Evidence from the Market for Rehabilitation Care," International Journal of Health Economics & Management, 14(1): 41-67.

Ziebarth, N. R. (2010): "Estimating Price Elasticities of Convalescent Care Programmes," The Economic Journal, 120(545): 816-844. Health Economics Science Award 2011 

III. DISABILITY INSURANCE AND WORKPLACE ACCIDENTS  

McVicar, D., Wilkins, R. and N.R. Ziebarth: "Four Decades of Disability Benefit Policies and the Rise and Fall of Disability Recipiency Rates in Five OECD Countries," In: Besharov, D. and D. Call (2020): Labor Activation in a Time of High Unemployment: Encouraging Work while Preserving the Social Safety Net, Oxford University Press, 1. Edition, Chapter 7, forthcoming. [Chapter 7 available here]

Guardado, J. R. and N. R. Ziebarth (2019): "Worker Investment in Safety, Workplace Accidents, and Compensating Wage Differentials," International Economic Review, 60(1): 133-155. [free "view only" version available here]  

Burkhauser, R. V, Daly, M. C. and N. R. Ziebarth (2016): "Protecting Working-Age People with Disabilities: Experiences of Four Industrialized Nations," Journal of Labour Market Research (Zeitschrift f. Arbeitsmarktforschung), 49(4): 367-386.

IV. HEALTH BEHAVIOR 

Marcus, J., Siedler, T. and N.R. Ziebarth (2021): “The Long-Run Effects of Subsidized Sports Club Memberships for Children on Take-Up and Physical Activity,” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, forthcoming.

Arni, P., Dragone, D., Goette, L. and N. R Ziebarth (2021): “Biased Health Perceptions and Risky Health Behaviors,” Journal of Health Economics, 76: 10242.

Jin, L. and N. R. Ziebarth (2020): "Sleep, Health, and Human Capital: Evidence from Daylight Saving Time," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. 170: 174-192 [JEBO paper available here]  

Dolan, P., Kavetsos, G., Krekel, C., Mavridis, D., Metcalfe, R., Senik, C., Szymanski, S. and N. R. Ziebarth (2019): "Quantifying the Intangible Impact of the Olympics Using Subjective Well-Being Data," Journal of Public Economics, 177: 104043. 

Guardado, J. R. and N. R. Ziebarth (2019): "Worker Investment in Safety, Workplace Accidents, and Compensating Wage Differentials," International Economic Review, 60(1): 133-155. [free "view only" version available here ]    

Ziebarth, N. R. (2018): "Biased Lung Cancer Risk Perceptions: Smokers are Misinformed," Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik (Special Issue: Empirical Health Economics), 238(5): 395–421. 

Kvasnicka, M., Siedler, T. and N. R. Ziebarth (2018): "The Health Effects of Smoking Bans: Evidence from German Hospitalization Data," Health Economics, 27(11): 1738-1753. [HEC paper available here]  

Ziebarth, N. R. (2018): "Lung Cancer Risk Perception Biases," Preventive Medicine, 110: 16-23.

Rozema, K. and N. R. Ziebarth (2017): "Taxing Consumption and the Take-Up of Public Assistance: The Case of Cigarette Taxes and Food Stamps," Journal of Law and Economics, 60(1): 1-27. 

Jones, L. E., and N. R. Ziebarth (2017): "US Child Safety Seat Laws: Are They Effective, and Who Complies?" Journal of Policy Analysis & Management, 36(3), 584–607. [available here] Raymond Vernon Memorial Award 2017

Dragone, D., and N. R. Ziebarth (2017): "Non-Separable Time Preferences, Novelty Consumption, and Body Weight: Theory and Evidence from the East German Transition to Capitalism" Journal of Health Economics, 51: 41-65.  

Jones, L. E. and N. R. Ziebarth (2016): "Successful Scientific Replication and Extension of Levitt (2008): Child Seats Are Still No Safer than Seat Belts," Journal of Applied Econometrics, 31(5): 920-928.

Wagner, G. G. and N. R. Ziebarth (2016): "Inevitable? Doping Attitudes among Berliners in 2011: The Role of Socialist State Socialisation and Athlete Experience," European Journal of Public Health, 26(3): 520-522.

Ziebarth, N. R. and M. M. Grabka (2009): "In Vino Pecunia? The Association Between Beverage-Specific Drinking Behavior and Wages," Journal of Labor Research, 30(3): 219-244.

V. ENVIRONMENT & POPULATION HEALTH  

Dahl, C.M., Karlsson, M.; Sørensen, E.N., and N. R. Ziebarth (2020): "Cold and Mortality in a Cross-Sectional and Lifecycle Perspective: Evidence from Competing Models," mimeo.

Jin, L. and N. R. Ziebarth (2020): "Sleep, Health, and Human Capital: Evidence from Daylight Saving Time," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 170: 174-192. [JEBO available here ]  

Dolan, P., Kavetsos, G., Krekel, C., Mavridis, D., Metcalfe, R., Senik, C., Szymanski, S. and N. R. Ziebarth (2019): "Quantifying the Intangible Impact of the Olympics Using Subjective Well-Being Data," Journal of Public Economics, 177: 104043. 

Karlsson, M. and N. R. Ziebarth. (2018): "Population Health Effects and Health-Related Costs of Extreme Temperatures: Comprehensive Evidence from Germany," Journal of Environmental Economics & Management, 91: 93–117. [JEEM paper available here]  

Göbel, J., Krekel, C., Tiefenbach, T. and N. R. Ziebarth (2015): "How Natural Disasters Can Affect Environmental Concerns, Risk Aversion, and Even Politics: Evidence from Fukushima and Three European Countries," Journal of Population Economics, 28(4): 1137-1180. FEEM Award 2014 by the European Economic Association 

VI. HEALTH MEASUREMENT, HEALTH INEQUALITY & HEALTH CARE SPENDING  

French, E. , McCauley, J. , Aragon, M., Bakx, P. , Chalkley, M,  Chen, S. H., Christensen, B. J., Chuang, H.,Cote-Sergent, A.,  De Nardi, M., Fan, E., Echevin, D., Geoffard, P.-Y.,  Gastaldi-Ménager, C., Gørtz, M., Ibuka, Y., Jones, J. B.,  Kallestrup-Lamb, M., Karlsson, M., Klein, T. J., de Lagasnerie, G., Michaud, P. , O’Donnell, O., Ohtsu, Y. , Rice, N., Skinner, J. S., van Doorslaer, E., Ziebarth, N. R. and E. Kelly (2017): "Data from the US and Eight other Developed Countries Show that End-of-Life Medical Spending is Lower than Previously Reported," Health Affairs, 36(7): 1211-1217.

Karlsson, M., Klein, T. and N. R. Ziebarth (2016): "Skewed, Persistent and High before Death: Medical Spending in Germany," Fiscal Studies (Special Issue: Medical Spending around the Developed World), 37(3-4): 527-559. 

Eibich, P. and N. R. Ziebarth (2014): “Examining the Structure of Spatial Health Effects using Hierarchical Bayes Models,” Regional Science and Urban Economics (Special Issue: Spatial Health Econometrics), 49: 305-320. Small Area Variation Health Services Research Award 2015 

Eibich, P. and N. R. Ziebarth (2014): "Analyzing Regional Variation in Health Care Utilization Using (Rich) Household Microdata," Health Policy, (Special Issue: Geographic Variation in Health Care: 40 Years of Small-Area Variations), 114(1):41-53. 

Frick, J. R. and N. R. Ziebarth (2013): "Welfare-Related Health Inequalities: Does the Choice of Measure Matter?" European Journal of Health Economics, 14(3): 431-442.

Ziebarth, N. R. (2010): "Measurement of Health, Health Inequality, and Reporting Heterogeneity," Social Science & Medicine, 71(1): 116-124.

MEDIA

The GOP Stimulus Counteroffer Explained,” by Li Zhou and Emily Stewart, Vox, Feb 1, 2021, 

Covid Hand-Outs: How other Countries Pay if You Are Sick,” by BBC News, Jan 23, 2021

America Falls Far Behind in Supporting Women with Paid Sick Leave. Will Biden Help with a National Policy?” by Chabeli Carrazana, 19thnews Jan 21, 2021

How Biden’s Proposed Paid Leave Would Work,” by Claire Cain Miller, The New York Times, Jan 17, 2021

Biden Stimulus Calls for Expanded Paid Sick Leave to Help Workers Facing Coronavirus Challenges,” by Eli Rosenberg, Washington Post, Jan 20, 2021

Pandemic-Related Paid Sick Days and Leave to Expire Dec. 31—With No Extension in Sight,” by Steven Findlay, Kaiser Health News, December 18, 2020.

Stimulus Deal Will Not Extend Emergency Paid Sick Leave, Which Helped Slow the Spread of Covid-19,” by James Hohmann, Washington Post, December 18, 2020

Welcome to the Pandemic Cliff,” by Nick Martin, The New Republic, December 1, 2020

Millions of Workers Poised to Lose Access to Paid Leave as Virus Spikes,” by Eleanor Mueller, Politico Nov 29, 2020

COVID-19 Sick Leave Likely Prevented Thousands Of Cases,” by Emily Peck, The Huffington Post, Nov 25, 2020

America Chose Sickness, and Lost the Economy,” by Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, November 2, 2020

Krankenversicherung: Bitte hinten anstellen--Eine neue Studie belegt: Kassenpatienten müssen doppelt so lange auf einen Arzttermin warten wie Privatversicherte,” by Lucia Heisterkamp, Die Zeit, June 24 2020.

Terminvergabe bei Fachärzten: Privatpatienten wurden bevorzugt,” by Kim Björn Becker, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (title page), June 28, 2020

With Unmandated Sick Leave, U.S. Economy is More Vulnerable to Pandemics,” by Harriet Torry, The Wall Street Journal, March 22, 2020

Coronavirus Brings a New Legislative Push for Paid Sick Leave,” by Claire Cain Miller, The New York Times, March 10, 2020

Why the U.S. Urgently Needs Paid Sick Leave,” by Judy Stone, Forbes, March 10, 2020

Coronavirus Sick Leave: Walmart, McDonald’s, Olive Garden add COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Policies,” by Jessica Guynn and Kelly Tyko, USA Today, March 9, 2020

Workers without Paid Sick Leave Confront Coronavirus,” by Charlotte Kesl, The Washington Post, March 9, 2020

What the World has Learned about Facing COVID-19,” The Economist, March 5, 2020

Employers who don’t offer paid sick leave are making flu season worse and hurting their own bottom line,” by Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post, February 13, 2018

Koch-backed group fights paid sick leave laws as flu sweeps US,” by Renée Feltz, The Guardian, February 11, 2018

Proof Daylight Saving Time Is Dumb, Dangerous, and Costly: The Case against Changing the Clocks Keeps Getting Stronger,” by Ben Steverman, Bloomberg, March 10, 2017

The High Costs of Not Offering Paid Sick Leave,” by Austin Frakt, New York Times, October 31, 2016

MORE MEDIA AND MORE PUBLICATIONS

https://www.human.cornell.edu/pam/people/nrz2

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2011, Ph.D., Economics, TU Berlin/DIW Berlin

2006, M.Sc., Economics, TU Berlin

2006, M.Sc., Business Studies, TU Berlin

2003, B.Sc., Economics, HU Berlin

2003, B.Sc., , Business and Economics Education, HU Berlin

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