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Invisible Wounds: How Mental Disability Benefits Shape Veteran Well-Being

David Silver & Jonathan Zhang

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy2026https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20230811article
AJG 3ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

We study impacts of VA disability compensation on the health and well-being of the large and rapidly growing population of veterans claiming mental disorders. We leverage quasi-random assignment of veterans to medical examiners with varying assessing tendencies. An additional $1,000 per year decreases food insecurity and homelessness by 4.1 and 1.3 percent over 5 years. Health care utilization increases, with greater engagement in preventive care. We estimate precise null average effects on health and mortality. Those on the margin of claim denial experience worse outcomes on average than other applicants, with suggestive evidence of large treatment effects for this subpopulation. (JEL I12, I31, I38, J14)

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20230811

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@article{david2026,
  title        = {{Invisible Wounds: How Mental Disability Benefits Shape Veteran Well-Being}},
  author       = {David Silver & Jonathan Zhang},
  journal      = {American Economic Journal: Economic Policy},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20230811},
}

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Invisible Wounds: How Mental Disability Benefits Shape Veteran Well-Being

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.