Public Health Law Research

Alexander C. Wagenaar, PhD, is a professor of health outcomes and policy at the University of Florida College of Medicine, and associate director of the Public Health Law Research program, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Scott Burris, JD, is a professor of law at Temple University, where he directs the Center for Health Law, Policy and Practice and the Public Health Law Research program, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Figures and Tables vii

Foreword ix

Michelle A. Larkin

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xv

The Editors xvii

The Contributors xi

Part One Framing Public Health Law Research

1. A Framework for Public Health Law Research 3

Scott Burris, Alexander C. Wagenaar, Jeffrey W. Swanson,

Jennifer K. Ibrahim, Jennifer Wood, and Michelle M. Mello

2. Law in Public Health Systems and Services Research 23

Scott Burris, Glen P. Mays, F. Douglas Scutchfield, and Jennifer

K. Ibrahim

Part Two Understanding How Law Influences Environments and Behavior

3. Perspectives from Public Health 49

Kelli A. Komro, Ryan J. O’Mara, and Alexander C. Wagenaar

4. Law and Society Approaches 87

Robin Stryker

5. Criminological Theories 109

Wesley G. Jennings and Tom Mieczkowski

6. Procedural Justice Theory 131

Tom R. Tyler and Avital Mentovich

7. Economic Theory 147

Frank J. Chaloupka

8. The Theory of Triadic Influence 169

Brian R. Flay and Marc B. Schure

9. Integrating Diverse Theories for Public Health Law Evaluation 193

Scott Burris and Alexander C. Wagenaar

Part Three Identifying and Measuring Legal Variables

10. Picturing Public Health Law Research: The Value of Causal Diagrams 217

Jeffrey W. Swanson and Jennifer K. Ibrahim

11. Measuring Statutory Law and Regulations for Empirical Research 237

Evan D. Anderson, Charles Tremper, Sue Thomas, and

Alexander C. Wagenaar

12. Coding Case Law for Public Health Law Evaluation 261

Mark Hall

Part Four Designing Public Health Law Evaluations

13. Evaluating Public Health Law Using Randomized Experiments 283

Alan S. Gerber, Donald P. Green, and Allison J. Carnegie

14. Natural Experiments: Research Design Elements for Optimal Causal Inference Without Randomization 307

Alexander C. Wagenaar and Kelli A. Komro

15. Qualitative Research Strategies for Public Health Law Evaluation 325

Jennifer Wood

16. Cost-Effectiveness and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Public Health Laws 347

Ted R. Miller and Delia Hendrie

17. The Future of Public Health Law Research 379

Scott Burris and Alexander C. Wagenaar

References 387

Name Index 443

Subject Index 461

Figures and Tables

Figures

1.1 Influence of Public Health Law 9

2.1 Effects of Law and Legal Practices on Public Health System Performance 26

3.1 A Public Health Perspective on How Law Affects Population Health 52

4.1 How Formal Law and Legality Influence Health 90

4.2 How Upstream Change in Regulatory Law Ultimately Affects Health 92

4.3 Process by Which New Health-Related Law Influences Health Through Organizational Politics 97

4.4 How Law Is Linked to Health Through Multiple Pathways of Meaning-Making 99

4.5 Law Affects Health Through Inequality 104

5.1 Deterrence Theory 118

5.2 Labeling Theory 120

5.3 An Integrated Model from Criminology 122

6.1 Procedural Justice Mechanisms Through Which Law Affects Public Health 143

7.1 How Economic Factors Affect Population Health 149

7.2 Cigarette Prices and Cigarette Sales, United States, 1970–2010 157

8.1 The Theory of Triadic Influence 180

10.1 Some Conventions of Causal Diagrams 220

10.2 Types of Involuntary Outpatient Commitment 223

10.3 Schematic Representation of AOT Processes in Nine Areas of New York State 224

10.4 New York State Office of Mental Health Diagram Explaining AOT to the Public 225

10.5 An Integrated Theory of Drinking Behavior 226

10.6 Use of Theory of Planned Behavior to Frame Distracted Driving Behaviors 227

10.7 Conceptual Model of the Impact of Tobacco Control Policies Over Time 229

10.8 Conceptual Model of the Effect of Law on Public Health Outcomes 231

10.9 How Stronger Patent Laws Could Improve Antimicrobial Effectiveness 232

11.1 Process for Measuring Law 241

14.1 Observed Effect: Simple Pre-Post Design Versus Time-Series Design 309

14.2 Observed Effect: Annual Versus Monthly Measures 310

14.3 Time Series Illustrating Seasonality 312

14.4 Possible Patterns of Policy Effects Over Time 313

14.5 Hierarchical Multilevel Time-Series Design: Legal Drinking Age Example 320

16.1 Costs and Benefits from a Sustained Compulsory Breath-Testing Program in New Zealand by Perspective 351

Tables

1.1 Typology of Public Health Law Research Studies 11

3.1 Data Sources for Measuring Population Health and Related Outcomes 68

8.1 Social Psychological Theories Informing Mechanisms of Legal Effect 177

11.1 Types of Law by Level and Source 242

13.1 Examples of Randomized Controlled Trials in Health Law and Policy 295

16.1 2008 Motorcycle Fatalities in the United States and Predicted Fatalities Without Helmet Use 354

16.2 Estimated Costs and Benefits per Year by Riding Helmeted 358

16.3 Cost-Outcome Estimates for Voluntary Motorcycle Helmet Use from Various Perspectives 361

16.4 Costs and Cost-Outcome Estimates per Newly Helmeted Rider for a Motorcycle Helmet Law (in 2010 dollars) 367

16.5 League Table of Costs, Savings, Benefit-Cost Ratio, and Cost per QALY Gained for Public Health Laws, Enforcement, and Sanctioning (in 2010 dollars) 370

16.6 Minimum Societal Ratios of Benefits to Government Costs Required for Government to Break Even on a Public Health Law or Program, by Public Health Problem Addressed and Level of Government 376