Tracy Falba, Visiting Assistant Professor

Tracy Falba

Please note: Tracy has left the "Economics" group at Duke University; some info here might not be up to date.

Professor Falba's research focuses on the economics of addiction, retirement behavior and well-being, and the consequences and determinants of various health behaviors. Her studies have explored the roles of life events, family dynamics, and health changes on outcomes such as smoking, depression, and alcohol abuse. Many of her studies explore the synergistic effects of health, labor supply and health behaviors. See for instance, “The Persistence of Depressive Symptoms in Older Workers Who Experience Involuntary Job Loss: Findings from the Health and Retirement Survey” with William T. Gallo, Elizabeth H. Bradley, Joel Dubin, Laura Cramer, Stanislv Kasl, and Richard N. Jones; and “Poor Mental Health and Smoking: Interactive Impact on Wages” with Mireia Jofre-Bonet, Susan H. Busch, and Jody L. Sindelar.  Other work has focused on both the determinants of tobacco control policy and its effectiveness. For an example, see “Securitization of tobacco settlement payments to reduce states’ conflict of interest” with Jody L. Sindelar. 

Professor Falba has worked as co-prinicial investigator and co-investor on numerous grants from the NIH, (in particular the NIAAA and the NIA), as well as grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Office Location:  208 Social Sciences, Economics Department, Durham, NC 27708
Email Address: send me a message

Typical Courses Taught:

Education:

BSUniversity of California at San Diego1993
Specialties:

Health Economics
Public Economics
Research Interests: Retirement Behavior and Well-Being, Economics of Addiction, Health Behaviors

Professor Falba's research focuses on the economics of addiction, retirement behavior and well-being, and the consequences and determinants of various health behaviors. Her studies have explored the roles of life events, family dynamics, and health changes on outcomes such as smoking, depression, and alcohol abuse. Many of her studies explore the synergistic effects of health, labor supply and health behaviors. See for instance, “The Persistence of Depressive Symptoms in Older Workers Who Experience Involuntary Job Loss: Findings from the Health and Retirement Survey” with William T. Gallo, Elizabeth H. Bradley, Joel Dubin, Laura Cramer, Stanislv Kasl, and Richard N. Jones; and “Poor Mental Health and Smoking: Interactive Impact on Wages” with Mireia Jofre-Bonet, Susan H. Busch, and Jody L. Sindelar.  Other work has focused on both the determinants of tobacco control policy and its effectiveness. For an example, see “Securitization of tobacco settlement payments to reduce states’ conflict of interest” with Jody L. Sindelar. 

Professor Falba has worked as co-prinicial investigator and co-investor on numerous grants from the NIH, (in particular the NIAAA and the NIA), as well as grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Keywords:

Absenteeism • Addiction • Adolescent • Adult • Aged • alcohol • Alcohol • Alcohol Drinking • Alcoholism • cholesterol • Conflict of Interest • Cost-Benefit Analysis • depression • Diabetes Mellitus • Displacement • Economics • Employment • Epidemiologic Methods • Error • Exercise • Families • Female • Financing, Personal • flu • Follow-Up Studies • Health • Health Behavior • Health Care Costs • Health Economics • Health Promotion • Health Status • Health Surveys • Heart Failure • History • Humans • Husbands • Impact • Incidence • Liability, Legal • Life Change Events • Life Expectancy • Logistic Models • Longevity • Longitudinal Studies • Maintenance • Male • Marriage • Middle Aged • Mortality • Motivation • Myocardial Infarction • Politics • Population • Prevalence • Prevention • Prognosis • Public Finance • Public Opinion • Recurrence • Resource Allocation • Retirement • Risk Factors • Selection • Sex Factors • Smoking • Smoking Cessation • Social Environment • Socioeconomic Factors • State Government • Stress, Psychological • Stroke • Tobacco Industry • Unemployment • United States • Weight • Women • Work

Representative Publications

  1. Falba, TA; Sindelar, JL, Spousal concordance in health behavior change, Health Services Research, vol. 43 no. 1 (2008), pp. 96-116, ISSN 0017-9124 [available here]  [abs]
  2. Falba, T; Teng, H-M; Sindelar, JL; Gallo, WT, The effect of involuntary job loss on smoking intensity and relapse., Addiction, vol. 100 no. 9 (September, 2005), pp. 1330-1339, ISSN 0965-2140, ISBN 0965-2140 [16128722], [doi]  [abs]
  3. Sindelar, JL; Duchovny, N; Falba, TA; Busch, SH, If smoking increases absences, does quitting reduce them?, Tobacco Control, vol. 14 no. 2 (2005), pp. 99-105, ISBN 0964-4563 [repository]
  4. Jofre Bonet, M; Busch, SH; Falba, TA; Sindelar, JL, Poor mental health and smoking: Interactive impact on wages, Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics, vol. 8 no. 4 (2005), pp. 193-203, ISBN 1091-4358
  5. Falba, T, Health events and the smoking cessation of middle aged Americans., Journal of Behavioral Medicine, vol. 28 no. 1 (February, 2005), pp. 21-33, ISSN 0160-7715, ISBN 0160-7715 [15887873]  [abs]
  6. Busch, S; Jofre-Bonet, M; Falba, T; Sindelar, J, Burning a Hole in the Budget: Tobacco Spending and its Crowd-Out of Other Goods, Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, vol. 3 no. 4 (2004), pp. 263-272 [repository]  [abs]
  7. Snyder, A; Falba, T; Busch, S; Sindelar, J, Are State legislatures responding to public opinion when allocating funds for tobacco control programs?, Health Promotion Practice, vol. 5 no. 3 Suppl (July, 2004), pp. 35S-45S, ISSN 1524-8399 [15231095], [doi]  [abs]