Dr. Geetha Waehrer is an economist and Research Scientist at PIRE. Her work uses secondary data and econometric techniques to study a wide range of topics including health services research, food assistance programs, impaired driving and enforcement strategies, and costs of occupational injury.
She is currently studying the costs of opioid misuse using insurance claims data. Another project examines the impact of SNAP on the food security of elderly Americans. She has analyzed long-term health outcomes associated with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. She has studied the effects of SNAP and the School Breakfast Program on food consumption and dietary quality using natural experiments and data from the Current Population Survey, American Time Use Survey, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and the Child Development Supplement of the PSID (Panel Study of Income Dynamics).
She worked on a study of prescription drug use in the driving population using data from the National Roadside Survey. In earlier work, she examined the effects of restricted work policies, establishment safety training, and drug testing on workplace injury and analyzed work loss and other costs associated with such injuries using microdata from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses.
Dr. Waehrer’s research has been published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals including Economics and Human Biology, Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Journal of Human Resources, Economics of Education Review, and Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Selected Projects
Understanding Food Related Hardships Among Older Americans
Selected Publications
Waehrer, G. M., Miller, T. R., Silverio Marques, S. C., Oh, D. L., & Burke Harris, N. (2020). Disease burden of adverse childhood experiences across 14 states. PLoS One, 15(1), e0226134. PMCID: PMC6986706. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226134
Waehrer, G., Deb, P., & Decker, S. L. (2015). Did the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act affect dietary intake of low-income individuals? Economics & Human Biology, 19, 170-183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2015.08.006
Waehrer, G. M., Zaloshnja, E., Miller, T., & Galvin, D. (2008). Substance-use problems: Are uninsured workers at greater risk? Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 69(6), 915-923. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.2008.69.915
Waehrer, G. M., Dong, X. S., Miller, T., Haile, E., & Men, Y. (2007). Costs of occupational injuries in construction in the United States. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 39(6), 1258-1266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2007.03.012
Waehrer, G., & Miller, T. (2003). Restricted work provisions, workers’ compensation and days away from work. Journal of Human Resources, 38(4), 964-991. https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.XXXVIII.4.964
