The business cycle and health behaviors

► Identifies the causal mechanisms that link business cycles to health behaviors. ► Uses a structural approach to examine effects of wages and hours of work on health behaviors. ► Increases in wages caused by business cycles are related to more cigarette use. ► Increases in hours of work are related to more cigarette use, but less physical activity and less physician visits. ► Suggests heterogeneous impacts of business cycles on time-intensive and less time-intensive behaviors.