Jonathan Zhang, Duke University

Saving Lives, Improving Livelihoods? The Case of Medication for Drug Dependence

Abstract

We study the effects of buprenorphine medication on the lives-and survival-of veterans with opioid use disorder using over twenty years of administrative records. A staggered adoption difference-in-differences design exploits facility-time changes in the share of physicians who newly obtain X-waivers necessary to prescribe the drug to estimate patient-level impacts after opioid overdose events, while an emergency department physician buprenorphine prescribing propensity instrument isolates within facility-and-time variation in receipt of buprenorphine. A 5-percentage-point increase in the facility-level prescriber buprenorphine adoption rate doubles long-term buprenorphine use after overdose events, increases substance-use treatment engagement by 26%, lowers depression scores by 11%, reduces 2-year mortality by 4 points, and boosts vocational program enrollment by 65%. Physician prescribing propensity reduced form results replicate these patterns, and IV estimates confirm sizable treatment-on-the-treated benefits. These findings underscore the power of a targeted medical innovation to temper one of the most pressing public health crises of our time.

Jonathan Zhang is an Assistant Professor at Stanford School of Public Policy, Duke University and Faculty Research Fellow at National Bureau of Economic Research. He is also affiliated with the US Veterans Affairs Office of Mental Health.
Previously, he was on the faculty at McMaster University and a Postdoctoral Scholar at Princeton University. He received his PhD in Economics from Stanford University in 2020 and his BSc from UBC.

Jonathan Zhang's research fields span health economics and public finance. He studies the impacts of physician behavior, health policies, and safety net programs on well-being. Thematically, he is particularly interested in the areas of mental health and substance use.

Read more about Jonathan Zhang.

Jonathan Zhang is visiting CEBI from 1 August - 15 November 2025.

CEBI contact: N. Meltem Daysal.