Barbara L. Wolfe

Professor of Public Affairs, Population Health Sciences and Economics
204 Observatory Hill Office Building
(608) 263-2029
wolfe@lafollette.wisc.edu

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Curriculum Vitae

Research Interest Statement
Wolfe’s recent research has addressed the determinants of the income gradient of health, the economics of disability, the adequacy of savings among the recently retired and an evaluation of Section housing vouchers. She is also currently working on the trends in income of college applicants over time. Her work on the tie between income and health uses a unique natural experiment; the legalization of gambling by some American Indian tribes. American Indians have some of the poorest health of any ethnic group in the U.S. Using a combination of BRFSS, area resource files and data collected by contacting numerous tribes, Wolfe is finding improvements in certain measures of health including mental health, health related behaviors, disability and self reported health. Her work on retirement uses the HRS data in combination of NBS data.

CDE Research Theme Working Groups
Demography of Inequality
Health and Mortality