Essays on the Organizational Context of Mental Health Disorders

Abstract

Our research demonstrates that the effect of offshoring on the mental health of onshore employees can be substantial. In terms of effect size, the odds that employees use psychotropic medication are 9.5% and 10.2% higher in the first and second years after offshoring relative to employees who do not face offshoring. When accounting for the boundary conditions, the odds ratios increase to 28.9% for extra-regional offshoring, 37.0% for ICT offshoring, and about 15% for captive offshoring and offshoring with job loss, respectively. Beyond reporting a substantial effect size, we find that the effect is elongated over time and affects employees up to three years after offshoring. More specifically, we observe a medication pathway where employees start with sleep medication in years one and two and transition to antidepressants in years two and three.