nep-hea New Economics Papers
on Health Economics
Issue of 2015‒08‒01
four papers chosen by
Yong Yin
SUNY at Buffalo

  1. Is Obesity Contagious? Evidence from International Graduate Students (Revised) By Katare, Bhagyashree
  2. Feeling Useless: The Effect of Unemployment on Mental Health in the Great Recession By Lídia Farré; Francesco Fasani; Hannes Mueller
  3. The Effect of Income on Mortality - New Evidence for the Absence of a Causal Link By Ahammer, Alexander; Horvath, Gerard Thomas; Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf
  4. Tobacco Consumption in Papua New Guinea By Xiaohui Hou

  1. By: Katare, Bhagyashree
    Abstract: This is a revised and updated version of the original AAEA conference paper posted at: http://purl.umn.edu/165748.
    Keywords: Obesity, Immigration, Acculturation, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,
    Date: 2015–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:199049&r=hea
  2. By: Lídia Farré; Francesco Fasani; Hannes Mueller
    Abstract: This article documents a strong connection between unemployment and mental disorders using data from the Spanish Health Survey. We exploit the collapse of the construction sector to identify the causal effect of job loss. Our results suggest that an increase of the unemployment rate by 10 percent due to collapse of the sector raised mental disorders in the affected population by 3 percent. We argue that the large size of this effect responds to the fact that the construction sector was at the center of the macroeconomic shock. As a result, workers exposed to the negative employment shock faced very low chances of re-entering employment. We show that this led to long unemployment spells, hopelessness and feelings of uselessness.
    Keywords: unemployment, mental health, great recession, Spain, construction, suicide
    JEL: C26 J60 I10
    Date: 2015–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:838&r=hea
  3. By: Ahammer, Alexander; Horvath, Gerard Thomas; Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf
    Abstract: We analyze the effect of income on mortality in Austria using administrative social security data. To tackle potential endogeneity concerns arising in this context, we estimate time-invariant firm-specific wage components and use them as instruments for actual wages. While we do find quantitatively small yet statistically significant effects in our naïve least squares estimations, IV regressions reveal a robust zero-effect of income on ten-year death rates for prime-age workers, both in terms of coecient magnitude and statistical significance. These results are robust to a number of different sample specifications and both linear and non-linear estimation methods.
    Keywords: income; mortality; wage decomposition
    JEL: I10 J14 J31
    Date: 2015–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10728&r=hea
  4. By: Xiaohui Hou
    Abstract: Tobacco use is a major challenge to international development. Despite being a signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and a Tobacco Free Pacific, Papua New Guinea is one of the ten countries with the highest rates of tobacco use in the world. Tobacco consumption in Papua New Guinea imposes a significant burden to households; disproportionally affecting poor households. The Government of Papua New Guinea has announced in its 2015 National Budget a change to the indexation arrangements applying to tobacco excise so that it is increased by 5 percent biannually (10 percent annually) for the next five years. This will help Papua New Guinea to achieve the target of raising the excise duty to 70 percent of the retail price. However, this policy must be supported by other control measures including advertising bans, smoke free zones, public education, warning pictures and the enforcement of rules against tobacco sales to minors.
    Keywords: tobacco advertising, birth, child health, risks, cigarette taxes, second hand smoke, economic costs, rates of tobacco, smoking prevalence, street vendors, adverse health ... See More + tobacco use, public places, prevention, rates of tobacco use, global tobacco epidemic, tobacco control measures, health outcomes, services, tobacco consumption, health care, youth, health, nutrition, tobacco manufacturers, social benefits, alcohol, smokers, health risks, tobacco companies, public health, cigarette, babies, weight, communicable diseases, knowledge, smoking rates, development, diabetes, children, excise duties, education, tobacco-related diseases, diseases, intervention, smoking, capacity, reducing tobacco consumption, tobacco control, productivity, smoking in public, marketing, hand smoke, cardiovascular health, health risks of smoking, tobacco epidemic, cigarettes, cardiovascular disease, implementation, respiratory disease, tobacco, cigarette tax, advertising bans, tobacco tax, cancer
    Date: 2015–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:hnpkbs:96795&r=hea

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