The Labor Market Impacts of GLP-1s

N. Meltem Daysal, · NBER

2 min read Original article ↗

Working Paper 35475

DOI 10.3386/w35475

Issue Date

We estimate the causal impacts of GLP-1 treatment on labor market outcomes using linked Danish administrative data and a matched stacked difference-in-differences design. We compare patients who initiate GLP-1 treatment during the first two years of Semaglutide availability to observably similar patients who initiate four years later. We find that GLP-1 treatment reduces long-term sickness leave by 17.3%. We estimate total fiscal benefits of GLP-1 initiation of approximately 1.3–1.5% of annual labor income per employed individual. We do not detect statistically significant or economically meaningful impacts on income, labor force participation, or employment over four years.

  • We are grateful for comments provided by Anders Humlum, Matthew Notowidigdo, and Franziska Valder. The activities of CEBI are financed by the Danish National Research Foundation, Grant DNRF134. The authors bear sole responsibility for the content of this paper. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.


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    N. Meltem Daysal, Camille JH. Fredrickson, Ida L. Kristiansen, Mircea Trandafir, and Jonathan Zhang, "The Labor Market Impacts of GLP-1s," NBER Working Paper 35475 (2026), https://doi.org/10.3386/w35475.

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