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on Health Economics |
| By: | Amez, Simon (Ghent University); Denecker, Floor (Ghent University); Ponnet, Koen (Ghent University); De Marez, Lieven (Ghent University); Baert, Stijn (Ghent University) |
| Abstract: | Previous studies have demonstrated a strong negative association between smartphone use and sleep quality. However, the majority of these studies quantified smartphone use with subjective self-reported metrics. In contrast, the current study contributes to the literature by objectively logging university students' smartphone use and investigating the association thereof with sleep quality. The extensive, nuanced smartphone usage information obtained from this logging also enables us to explore the validity of several mechanisms theorised to underlie the previously reported negative association between smartphone use and sleep quality. In contrast to earlier research, we do not find a significant association between sleep quality and the duration or frequency of students' daily smartphone use. However, students with the internalised habit of launching a greater number of applications per session ('gateway habits') experience worse sleep quality. This finding is consistent with literature showing that smartphone-related stress is more strongly associated with checking habits stemming from 'fear-ofmissing-out' than with overall screen time. |
| Keywords: | mobile DNA, smartphone use, smartphone use logging, fear-of-missing-out, gateway habits, sleep quality |
| JEL: | I10 L86 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14816&r= |
| By: | Athey, Susan (Stanford University); Bergstrom, Katy (World Bank); Hadad, Vitor (Stanford University); Jamison, Julian C. (University of Exeter); Ozler, Berk (World Bank); Parisotto, Luca (World Bank); Sama, Julius Dohbit |
| Abstract: | Long-acting reversible contraceptives are highly effective in preventing unintended pregnancies, but take-up remains low. This paper analyzes a randomized controlled trial of interventions addressing two barriers to long-acting reversible contraceptive adoption, credit, and informational constraints. The study offered discounts to the clients of a women’s hospital in Yaoundé, Cameroon, and cross-randomized a counseling strategy that encourages shared decision-making using a tablet-based app that ranks modern methods. Discounts increased uptake by 50 percent, with larger effects for adolescents. Shared decision-making tripled the share of clients adopting a long-acting reversible contraceptive at full price, from 11 to 35 percent, and discounts had no incremental impact in this group |
| JEL: | C13 C93 D91 I12 I15 J13 O12 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:stabus:3987&r= |
| By: | Dahl, Gordon B. (University of California, San Diego); Kreiner, Claus Thustrup (University of Copenhagen); Nielsen, Torben Heien (University of Copenhagen); Serena, Benjamin Ly (University of Copenhagen) |
| Abstract: | We provide a novel decomposition of changing gaps in life expectancy between rich and poor into differential changes in age-specific mortality rates and differences in "survivability". Declining age-specific mortality rates increases life expectancy, but the gain is small if the likelihood of living to this age is small (ex ante survivability) or if the expected remaining lifetime is short (ex post survivability). Lower survivability of the poor explains between one-third and one-half of the recent rise in life expectancy inequality in the US and the entire change in Denmark. Our analysis shows that the recent widening of mortality rates between rich and poor due to lifestyle-related diseases does not explain much of the rise in life expectancy inequality. Rather, the dramatic 50% reduction in cardiovascular deaths, which benefited both rich and poor, made initial differences in lifestyle-related mortality more consequential via survivability. |
| Keywords: | mortality, life expectancy, inequality |
| JEL: | I14 J10 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14741&r= |
| By: | Yasenov, Vasil (Stanford University); Hotard, Michael (Stanford University); Lawrence, Duncan (Stanford University); Hainmueller, Jens (Stanford University) |
| Abstract: | Previous research has documented lower vaccination rates among ethnic and racial minorities as well as foreign-born people, thus raising concerns about health inequities during pandemics. We analyzed influenza vaccination rates among children with US-born parents and those with at least one immigrant parent. We found that children with immigrant parents have higher odds of receiving the influenza vaccination even after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics. |
| Keywords: | influenza vaccine, immigration, mixed-status families |
| JEL: | I12 I14 I18 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14746&r= |
| By: | Flood, Sarah (University of Minnesota); McMurry, Joel (University of Wisconsin-Madison); Sojourner, Aaron (University of Minnesota); Wiswall, Matthew (University of Wisconsin-Madison) |
| Abstract: | Using every major nationally-representative dataset on parental and non-parental care provided to children up to age 6, we quantify differences in American children's care experiences by socioeconomic status (SES), proxied primarily with maternal education. Increasingly, higher-SES children spend less time with their parents and more time in the care of others. Non-parental care for high-SES children is more likely to be in childcare centers, where average quality is higher, and less likely to be provided by relatives where average quality is lower. Even within types of childcare, higher-SES children tend to receive care of higher measured quality and higher cost. Inequality is evident at home as well: measures of parental enrichment at home, from both self-reports and outside observers, are on average higher for higher-SES children. We also find that parental and non-parental quality is reinforcing: children who receive higher quality non-parental care also tend to receive higher quality parental care. Head Start, one of the largest government care subsidy programs for low-income households, reduces inequality in care provided, but it is mainly limited to older children and to the lowest income households. Our evidence is from the pre-COVID-19 period, and the latest year we examine is 2019. |
| Keywords: | child care, inequality, child development, human capital, skill formation |
| JEL: | I24 J13 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14743&r= |
| By: | N. Meltem Daysal; Hui Ding; Maya Rossin-Slater; Hannes Schwandt |
| Abstract: | While the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the large costs of infectious diseases, less attention has been paid to the impacts of more common, endemic respiratory viruses that frequently circulate in the population, especially when it comes to their potential long-term consequences for population health, human capital, and economic outcomes. This paper uses Danish population-level administrative data on 35 birth cohorts of children to provide a comprehensive analysis of both the mechanisms through which infants become infected by respiratory illnesses, as well as the consequences of early-life respiratory disease exposure for their later outcomes. First, we document a striking difference in the likelihood of severe respiratory illness by birth order: younger siblings have two to three times higher rates of hospitalization for respiratory conditions before age one than older siblings at the same age. We argue that the family unit is central in virus transmission, with older children "bringing home" the virus to their younger siblings. We then combine the birth order variation with within-municipality variation in respiratory disease prevalence among preschool-aged children to identify differential long-term impacts of early-life respiratory illness between younger and older siblings. We find that moving from the 25th to the 75th percentile in the local disease prevalence distribution ("disease index") is associated with a 30.9 percent differential increase in the number of respiratory illness hospitalizations in the first year of life for younger compared to older siblings. In the long term, for younger relative to older siblings, we find a 0.5 percent differential reduction in the likelihood of high school graduation, and a 1.3 percent additional reduction in age-30 earnings. |
| JEL: | I12 I14 I18 J13 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29524&r= |
| By: | Marika Cabral; Colleen Carey; Sarah Miller |
| Abstract: | Provider payments are the key determinant of insurance generosity within many health insurance programs covering low-income populations. This paper analyzes the effects of a large, federally-mandated provider payment increase for primary care services provided to low-income elderly and disabled individuals. Drawing upon comprehensive administrative payment and utilization data, we leverage variation across beneficiaries and across providers in the policy-induced payment increase in difference-in-differences and triple differences research designs. The estimates indicate that the provider payment reform led to a 6.3% increase in the targeted services provided to eligible beneficiaries, indicating an implied payment elasticity of 1.3. Further, the provider payment reform decreased the fraction of low-income beneficiaries with no primary care visit in a year by 9%, completely closing the gap relative to higher-income beneficiaries with the same observable characteristics. Additionally, the results indicate that the payment reform caused an increase in established patient visits, with no increase in new patient visits. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the payment increase led to an expansion of utilization for many subgroups, with somewhat larger effects among beneficiaries who are younger, are white, and live in areas with many primary care providers per capita. |
| JEL: | I11 I14 I18 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29471&r= |
| By: | Costa-Font, Joan (London School of Economics); Raut, Nilesh (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Can the expansion of Medicaid, a means-tested health and long-term care insurance, be slowed down by incentivising the purchase of private long-term care insurance (LTCI)? We study the implementation of the long-term care insurance partnership (LTCIP) program, a joint federal and state-level program that intended to promote LTCI coverage. Drawing on a difference-in-differences (DD) design we study the effect of the rollout of the LTCIP program between 2005 and 2016 on both LTCI uptake and Medicaid eligibility, and we estimate the effect on Medicaid savings. Drawing on a difference-in-differences (DD) design, we find that, unlike previous estimates, the introduction of the LTCIP does significantly increase LTCI coverage and reduce the uptake of Medicaid. The effects are driven by the introduction of LTCIP in states after 2010. We estimate that the adoption of LTCIP has given rise to an average Medicaid saving of $36 for every 65-year-old. This suggests scope for LTCI arrangements to reduce Medicaid spending. |
| Keywords: | long-term care partnerships, long-term care insurance, Medicaid, United States, difference-in-differences |
| JEL: | I18 H11 H24 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14753&r= |
| By: | Costa-Font, Joan (London School of Economics); Raut, Nilesh (London School of Economics); Van Houtven, Courtney (Duke University) |
| Abstract: | Health insurance expansions can exert wellbeing effects on individuals who provide informal care to their loved ones, reducing their experience of depression. This study exploits evidence from the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) Medicaid expansion to examine the effects on the mental wellbeing of informal caregivers. Drawing on an event study and a Difference-in-Differences (DID) design we investigate the policy impact of ACA Medicaid expansion using longitudinal evidence (from the Health and Retirement Study, HRS) for 2010 to 2018 for low-income individuals aged 64 or below. We find that ACA's Medicaid expansion reduced depressive symptoms among caregivers, and specifically we estimate that exposure to ACA Medicaid expansion gives rise to a 0.38 points (equivalent to 4-5%) reduction in the CESD score (a negative scale in which the lowest scale indicates the best mental wellbeing). We also find that ACA Medicaid causes a spillover effect at the household level, improving the well-being of the spouse care recipient. Our results are robust to various specifications, and we identify several potential driving mechanisms for the findings: reductions in out-of-pocket expenses and labor supply and, as expected, increased Medicaid uptake. The evidence from falsification tests confirms that the estimated effects are purely due to ACA's Medicaid expansion and no other phenomena. |
| Keywords: | insurance expansion, Medicaid, mental wellbeing, ACA, spousal mental health, informal care |
| JEL: | I18 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14754&r= |
| By: | Bhuller, Manudeep (University of Oslo); Khoury, Laura (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration); Løken, Katrine V. (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration) |
| Abstract: | Does prison cause mental health problems among inmates and their family members? Correlational evidence reveals that the prevalence of mental health problems is much higher among inmates than among the general population, but remains silent on the issue of causality. We exploit the strengths of the Norwegian setting and the richness of the data available to measure the impacts of incarceration on the health of defendants and their family members. We first use an event study design around the case decision event. We complement this with an instrumental variable strategy that takes advantage of the random assignment of criminal cases to judges differing in their stringency. Both methods consistently show that the positive correlation is misleading: incarceration in fact lowers the prevalence of mental health disorders among defendants as measured by mental health-related visits to health-care professionals. We further demonstrate that this effect lasts long after release and is unlikely driven by a shift in health-care demand holding health status constant. Family members, especially spouses, also experience positive spillovers on their mental health. |
| Keywords: | mental health; incarceration; family spillovers |
| JEL: | I10 I18 K42 |
| Date: | 2021–11–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2021_019&r= |
| By: | Chadi, Adrian (University of Konstanz); Hoffmann, Manuel (Texas A&M University) |
| Abstract: | Watching television is the most time-consuming human activity besides work but its role for individual well-being is unclear. Negative consequences portrayed in the literature raise the question whether this popular pastime constitutes an economic good or bad, and hence serves as a prime example of irrational behavior reducing individual health and happiness. Using rich panel data, we are the first to comprehensively address this question by exploiting a large-scale natural experiment in West Germany, where people in geographically restricted areas received commercial TV via terrestrial frequencies. Contrary to previous research, we find no health impact when TV consumption increases. For life satisfaction, we even find positive effects. Additional analyses support the notion that TV is not an economic bad and that non-experimental evidence seems to be driven by negative self-selection. |
| Keywords: | health, happiness, well-being, natural experiment, television consumption, time-use, entertainment, CSPT, ArcGIS, mass media |
| JEL: | C26 D12 I31 H12 J22 L82 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14721&r= |
| By: | Kettlewell, Nathan (University of Technology, Sydney); Tymula, Agnieszka (University of Sydney) |
| Abstract: | Using a large sample of 1,120 twins, we estimated the heritability of trust using four distinct measures of trust – domain-specific political trust, general self-reported trust, and incentivized behavioral trust and trustworthiness. Our results highlight the importance of measuring trust in a context because its heritability differs substantially across the four measures, from 0% to 37%. Moreover, we provide the first evidence on the heritability of political trust which we estimate to be 37%. Furthermore, like the heritability, the environmental correlates of trust also vary across the different measures with political trust having the largest set of environmental covariates. The perceptions of COVID-19 health and income risks are among the unique correlates of political trust, with participants who are more worried about financial and health consequences of COVID-19, trusting politicians less, stressing the importance of trust in political leaders during a health crisis. |
| Keywords: | trust, heritability, genetics, twin study |
| JEL: | D91 Z13 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14734&r= |
| By: | Kung, Claryn S. J. (Monash University); Pudney, Stephen (ISER, University of Essex); Shields, Michael A. (Monash University) |
| Abstract: | Studies have found that loneliness is as bad as smoking or obesity for mortality risk, and the prevalence of loneliness is predicted to increase with ageing populations, more people living alone, and with chronic health conditions. Despite the substantial literature on loneliness, there is little detailed research on the extent of economic gradients. In this paper we provide this evidence using a sample of around 400,000 respondents (aged 40-70) from the UK Biobank. We focus on differences in loneliness across educational attainment, household income and neighbourhood deprivation, as well as recent major life events including financial difficulties. Using two statistical approaches, we find a substantially higher probability of experiencing loneliness, but also social isolation and a lack of social support, for men and women with low socioeconomic status, even when comparing those residing in the same postcode district. Additionally, the recent experience of financial stress is strongly associated with worse social health. Our results are robust to a panel analysis that accounts for intercorrelations between loneliness, social isolation and lack of social support, and controls for sample attrition. |
| Keywords: | loneliness, social isolation, social support, UK Biobank, economic gradients |
| JEL: | I1 J1 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14731&r= |
| By: | Deryugina, Tatyana (University of Illinois); Molitor, David (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) |
| Abstract: | Life expectancy varies substantially across local regions within a country, raising conjectures that place of residence affects health. However, population sorting and other confounders make it difficult to disentangle the effects of place on health from other geographic differences in life expectancy. Recent studies have overcome such challenges to demonstrate that place of residence substantially influences health and mortality. Whether policies that encourage people to move to places that are better for their health or that improve areas that are detrimental to health are desirable depends on the mechanisms behind place effects, yet these mechanisms remain poorly understood. |
| Keywords: | life expectancy, regional variation, place effects |
| JEL: | I10 R10 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14748&r= |
| By: | Pesko, Michael (Georgia State University); Warman, Casey (Dalhousie University) |
| Abstract: | In 2016, the Surgeon General used longitudinal cohort studies to conclude that youth e-cigarette use is strongly associated with cigarette use. We re-evaluate data from the period of time before the writing of the Surgeon General report, using quasi-experimental methods, and reach the opposite conclusion. We study contemporaneous and intertemporal effects of e-cigarette and cigarette price and tax changes. Our price variation comes from 35,000 retailers participating in the Nielsen Retail Scanner data system. We match price and tax variation to survey data on current use of e-cigarettes and cigarettes for over 94,000 students between grades 6 to 12 in the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) for years 2011 to 2015. We find evidence that e-cigarettes and cigarettes are same-period economic substitutes. Coefficient estimates (while imprecisely estimated) also suggest potentially large positive effects of past e-cigarette prices on current cigarette use, indicating inter-temporal economic substitution. Our findings raise doubts about the conclusion of government-sponsored reports that e-cigarettes and cigarettes are strongly positively associated. We recommend revisiting and possibly amending this conclusion. |
| Keywords: | tobacco control, cigarette use, e-cigarette use, tax policy |
| JEL: | I18 H71 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14751&r= |
| By: | Bernard Fortin; Nicolas Jacquemet (PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Bruce Shearer |
| Abstract: | Based on linked administrative and survey panel data, we analyze the labour supply behaviour of physicians who could adopt either a standard fee-for-service contract or a mixed remuneration (MR) contract. Under MR, physicians received a per diem and a reduced fee for services provided. We present estimates of a structural discrete choice model that incorporates service intensity (services provided per hour) and contract choice into a labour supply framework. We use our estimates to predict (ex ante) the effects of contracts on physician behaviour and welfare, as measured by average equivalent variations. The supply of services is reduced under a MR contract, suggesting incentives matter. Hours spent seeing patients is less sensitive to incentives than the supply of services. Our results suggest that a reform forcing all physicians to adopt the MR system would have substantially larger effects on physician behaviour than were measured under the observed reform. A pure salary (per diem) reform would sharply reduce services but would increase time spent seeing patients. |
| Keywords: | Practice Patterns of Physicians,Labour Supply,Service Intensity,Fee-for-Service Contract,Mixed Remuneration Contract,Discrete Choice Models |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:pseptp:hal-03426996&r= |
| By: | Jose Torres |
| Abstract: | Over the last two decades, the Peruvian government has made great efforts to improve access to health care by significantly augmenting the coverage of the non-contributory public health care system Seguro Integral de Salud (SIS). This expansion has a positive impact on welfare and public health indicators, as it limits the risk of catastrophic health-related costs for previously uninsured individuals and allows for the appropriate treatment of illnesses. However, it also entails some unintended consequences for informality, tax revenues, and GDP, since a few formal agents are paying for a service that the majority of (informal) agents receive for free. In this paper, we use a general equilibrium model calibrated for Peru to simulate the expansion of SIS to quantify the unintended effects. We find that overall welfare increases, but informality rises by 2.7 percent, while tax revenues and output decrease by roughly 0.1 percent. Given the extent of the expansion in eligibility, the economic relevance of these results seems negligible. However, this occurs because the expansion of coverage was mostly funded by reducing the spending per-insured person. In fact, we find larger costs if public spending is increased to improve the quality of service given universal coverage. |
| Keywords: | care system Seguro Integral de Salud; IMF working paper Western Hemisphere department; unintended effect; health shock; health risk; avg. health spending; non-contributory health system SIS; Self-employment; Health care; Health care spending; Insurance; South America; Caribbean |
| Date: | 2021–04–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2021/106&r= |
| By: | Bonsang, Eric (Université Paris-Dauphine); Caroli, Eve (Université Paris-Dauphine); Garrouste, Clémentine (Université Paris-Dauphine) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the gender gap in hypertension misreporting using the French Constances cohort. We show that false negative reporting of hypertension is more frequent among men than among women, even after conditioning on a series of individual characteristics. As a second step, we investigate the causes of the gender gap in hypertension misreporting. We show that women go to the doctor more often than men do and that they have better knowledge of their family medical history. Once these differences are taken into account, the gender gap in false negative reporting of hypertension is reversed. This suggests that information acquisition and healthcare utilisation are crucial ingredients in fighting undiagnosed male hypertension. |
| Keywords: | gender, objective health, subjective health, hypertension, false negative reporting |
| JEL: | I10 I12 J18 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14742&r= |
| By: | Marina Vergeles (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The sex gap in life expectancy (LE) at birth is currently narrowing in all high-income countries. Previous research on Western European and English-speaking (WE&ES) countries suggested that smoking-related mortality at ages 50+ was largely responsible for both widening and subsequent narrowing of the gap. However, countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have had particularly high excess male mortality at young and middle ages that couldn`t be fully attributed to the smoking-related causes. We use the Human Mortality Database to examine the patterns and time trends in male/female differences in LE across 41 high-income countries and 7 country groups from 1959 until the latest available year. Contour decomposition is applied to estimate the contribution of different ages to the maximum sex gap and its change ever since. While the UK was the first country to reach the peak in the sex gap in 1969, Greece did it half a century later, in 2009. The largest male disadvantage in LE was observed in Russia in 2005 (13.7 years), Israel had a peak in 1999 with just 4.4 years. There is a persistent difference between countries and particularly country groups in the age-specific contribution to the maximum sex gap. In WE&ES countries ages older than 50 play the major role in determining the sex gap while CEE countries have high excess male mortality in young and middle ages (20-50). The narrowing of the sex gap in CEE countries hasn`t substantially changed the age contribution. Mortality at ages younger than 50 still plays an important role in determining the sex gap in LE in these countries. Differences in the sex gap between countries add a new dimension to a previously established East-West mortality divide. Country specifics must be taken into account to develop public health policies aimed at reducing sex mortality inequalities |
| Keywords: | sex gap in life expectancy, gender differences in health, mortality, decomposition. |
| JEL: | J10 J11 I14 N32 N34 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:98/soc/2021&r= |
| By: | Robert John Kolesar (Abt Associates, UA - University of Antwerp, Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance, CERDI - Centre d'Études et de Recherches sur le Développement International - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne); Guido Erreygers (UA - University of Antwerp); Wim van Dam (ITM - Institute of Tropical Medicine [Antwerp]); Vanara Chea (Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance); Theany Choeurng (Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance); Soklong Leng (Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance) |
| Abstract: | Financial risk protection is a core dimension of Universal Health Coverage. Hardship financing, defined as borrowing and selling land or assets to pay for healthcare, is a measure of last recourse. To inform efforts to improve Cambodia's social health protection system we analyze 2019-2020 Cambodia Socioeconomic Survey data to assess hardship financing, illness and injury related productivity loss, and estimate related economic impacts. We apply two-stage Instrumental Variable multiple regression to address endogeneity relating to net income. More than 98,500 households or 2.7% of the total population resorted to hardship financing over the past year. Factors significantly increasing risk are having an Equity card, higher out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures, illness or injury related productivity loss, and spending of savings. The economic burden from annual lost productivity from illness or injury amounts to USD 459.9 million or 1.7% of GDP. The estimated household economic cost related to hardship financing is USD 250.8 million or 0.9% of GDP. Such losses can be mitigated with policy measures such as linking a catastrophic health coverage mechanism to the Health Equity Funds, capping interest rates on health-related loans, and using loan guarantees to incentivize microfinance institutions and banks to refinance health-related, high-interest loans from money lenders. |
| Keywords: | social health protection,poverty,financial risk protection,Universal Health Coverage,hardship financing |
| Date: | 2021–07–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03437399&r= |
| By: | Luis Guillermo Becerra-Valbuena (PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Jorge A. Bonilla (ULA - Universidad de Los Andes [Venezuela]) |
| Abstract: | We contribute to the literature on air pollution and health by assessing an additional channel, the effect of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on health. Currently, there is a vast literature on the effects of urban pollution on health. Our research, unlike other studies, jointly investigates the effects of pollution, ENSO and local weather on health. On the one hand, ENSO manifests itself as an extreme climatic shock that follows certain seasonality and influences weather. It may also have an impact on floods, droughts and agriculture inducing changes in food markets or a loss of household income, which also affect health. On the other hand, health outcomes are affected by other factors which follow separate mechanisms to the previous ones. Therefore, pollutant impacts on health may be interpreted as separate effects from other shocks mediated through ENSO. Using a database from 1998 to 2015 on air quality and vital statistics for Bogotá, and ENSO information, we find that across several specifications, ENSO affects birth weight and the probability of low birth weight after separating pollution and classical local weather impacts. Interestingly, the effect on birth weight of ENSO are several times larger than the impacts of pollution. Being exposed to ENSO may decrease birth weight up to 1.3%, while an increase of 1 ppb of SO2 or 1 µg/m3 of PM25 might reduce birth weight up to 0.3% or 0.14%, respectively. From a policy point of view, these results are relevant because regardless of the measure of pollution that we employ, the amount of the impacts exhibited by climatic shocks via ENSO events dominate. |
| Keywords: | Climate change,Health,ENSO Index,El Niño,La Niña,weather,Pollution,Bogotá |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-03429482&r= |
| By: | Tansel, Aysit (Middle East Technical University); Öztürk, Ceyhan (Middle East Technical University); Erdil, Erkan (Middle East Technical University) |
| Abstract: | We examine the relationship between wealth and health through prominent growth indicators and cognitive ability. Cognitive ability is represented by nutritional status. The proxy variable for nutritional status is BMI. We use the reduced form equation in the cubic specification of time preference rate, strongly related to cognitive ability, to estimate this relationship. The growth indicators utilized are GDP per capita, schooling, overall and manufacturing productivities, and savings. We estimate our models using the FE, GMM estimators, and long difference OLS and IV estimation through balanced panel data for the 1980-2009 period. We conclude that the relationship between all prominent growth indicators and BMI is inverse U-shaped. In other words, cognitive ability has a significant potential to progress growth and economic development only in a healthy status. |
| Keywords: | cognitive ability, time preference rate, BMI, productivity, health, schooling, growth, economic development |
| JEL: | E21 I15 I25 J24 O11 Q18 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14727&r= |
| By: | Scott A. Carson |
| Abstract: | In migration studies, immigrant health is a concern before, during, and after migration. This study uses a large late 19th and early 20th century data set of over 20 US prisons to assess migrant net nutrition. Native-born individuals were taller and had the lowest BMIs. International immigrants had lower BMIs and shorter statures. After controlling for other characteristics, native-born females had lower BMIs than men; however, foreign-born women’s’ BMIs were higher than domestic-born women. Females and males with darker complexions had greater BMIs than their counterparts with fairer complexions. |
| Keywords: | nineteenth century US health, immigrant health, BMI, malnourishment |
| JEL: | I12 I31 J31 J70 N31 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9411&r= |
| By: | Barban, Nicola (University of Bologna); De Cao, Elisabetta (London School of Economics); Francesconi, Marco (University of Essex) |
| Abstract: | Fertility has a strong biological component generally ignored by economists. Using the UK Biobank, we analyze the extent to which genes, proxied by polygenic scores, and the environment, proxied by early exposure to the contraceptive pill diffusion, affect age at first sexual intercourse, age at first birth, completed family size, and childlessness. Both genes and environment exert substantial influences on all outcomes. The anticipation of sexual debut and the postponement of motherhood led by the diffusion of the pill are magnified by gene-environment interactions, while the decline in family size and the rise in childlessness associated with female emancipation are attenuated by gene-environment effects. The nature-nurture interplay becomes stronger in more egalitarian environments that empower women, allowing genes to express themselves more fully. These conclusions are confirmed by heterogenous effects across the distributions of genetic susceptibilities and exposure to environmental risks, sister fixed effects models, mother-daughter comparisons, and counterfactual simulations. |
| Keywords: | fertility, genetics, polygenic score, contraceptive pill, nature versus nurture, social norms |
| JEL: | D10 I14 I15 J01 J13 J16 |
| Date: | 2021–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14756&r= |
| By: | Kumar, Santosh (Sam Houston State University); Gundi, Mukta (Azim Premji University); Atre, Sagar (Intellecap Advisory Services); Ngoc, Luu Bich (National Economics University Vietnam); Thieng, Nguyen Thi (National Economics University Vietnam); Rammohan, Anu (University of Western Australia) |
| Abstract: | This study describes the prevalence and drinking patterns of alcohol consumption among adults (aged 15+ years) and explores the association between sociodemographic factors and alcohol consumption in Vietnam. A cross-sectional representative survey of 5,200 respondents from 12 provinces was conducted in 2015. Multivariate logistic regression models were fitted to analyze the association between sociodemographic factors (age, gender, education, marital status, income, religion) and alcohol consumption patterns. Nearly three-quarters of males (77%) and one-quarter of females (23%) were current alcohol drinkers. In the multivariate analyses, being male (aOR=10.9, 95%CI = 8.01-14.8, p |
| Keywords: | alcohol use, sociodemographic determinants, homemade alcohol, Vietnam |
| JEL: | A10 I1 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14824&r= |
| By: | Anna Bindler (University of Cologne and University of Gothenburg); Randi Hjalmarsson (University of Gothenburg); Nadine Ketel (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); Andreea Mitrut (University of Gothenburg) |
| Abstract: | Many rights are conferred on Dutch youth at ages 16 and 18. Using national register data for all reported victimizations, we find sharp and discontinuous increases in victimization rates at these ages: about 13% for both genders at 16 and 9% (15%) for males (females) at 18. These results are comparable across subsamples (based on socio-economic and neighborhood characteristics) with different baseline victimization risks. We assess potential mechanisms using data on offense location, cross-cohort variation in the minimum legal drinking age driven by a 2014 reform, and survey data of alcohol/drug consumption and mobility behaviors. We conclude that the bundle of access to weak alcohol, bars/clubs and smoking increases victimization at 16 and that age 18 rights (hard alcohol, marijuana coffee shops) exacerbate this risk; vehicle access does not play an important role. Finally, we do not find systematic spillover effects onto individuals who have not yet received these rights. |
| Keywords: | victimization, crime, youth, youth protection laws, alcohol, inequality, RDD |
| JEL: | K42 K36 J13 I12 I14 |
| Date: | 2021–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:130&r= |
| By: | Taiki Kakimoto; Shinsuke Uchida |
| Abstract: | Large-scale natural disasters are known to increase disaster victims' risk-taking behavior such as alcohol consumption, but the potentially prolonged phenomenon has rarely been tracked. This study examines the long-term causal effect of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the subsequent Fukushima nuclear accident on alcohol consumption by using the monthly expenditure data of representative households in 47 prefecture capitals in Japan in 2000-2019. We use the seismic intensity (Shindo) of each city to identify the causal relationship between the earthquake and alcohol consumption. The results reveal a persistent increase in alcohol consumption in cities with a seismic intensity of 6 or higher. This trend is particularly pronounced for non-employed (retired) households. We also find that the long-term increase in alcohol consumption is associated with the persistent decline of spending on things that maintain social connections. |
| Date: | 2021–11–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:toh:tupdaa:11&r= |
| By: | Congdon Fors, Heather (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Isaksson, Ann-Sofie (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Lindskog, Annika (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the explanatory power of social convention theory for explaining the persistence of female genital cutting (FGC) in a broad sample of African countries. While influential in policy circles, the idea that FGC is best described as a bad equilibrium in a social coordination game has recently been challenged by quantitative evidence from selected countries. These studies have pointed towards the importance of private preferences. We use novel approaches to test whether FGC is social interdependent when decisions also depend on private preferences. We test implications of the simple fact that according to social convention theory mothers will sometimes cut their daughters even if they do not support the practice. The substantial regional variation in FGC practices warrants investigation in a broad sample. Empirical results drawing on Demographic and Health Survey data from 34 surveys performed between 1992-2018 in 11 African countries suggest that cutting behavior is indeed often socially interdependent, and hence that it can be understood as a social convention. Our findings indicate that even if social convention theory does not provide the full picture, it should not be dismissed. Accordingly, interventions that acknowledge the social interdependence of cutting behavior are likely to be more successful than interventions that do not. |
| Keywords: | Female genital cutting; social convention theory; norms; Africa |
| JEL: | D71 D91 I15 O55 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0814&r= |
| By: | Evan K. Rose; Yotam Shem-Tov |
| Abstract: | Researchers using instrumental variables to investigate the effects of ordered treatments (e.g., years of education, months of healthcare coverage) often recode treatment into a binary indicator for any exposure (e.g., any college, any healthcare coverage). The resulting estimand is difficult to interpret unless the instruments only shift compliers from no treatment to some positive quantity and not from some treatment to more -- i.e., there are extensive margin compliers only (EMCO). When EMCO holds, recoded endogenous variables capture a weighted average of treatment effects across complier groups that can be partially unbundled into each group's treated and untreated means. Invoking EMCO along with the standard Local Average Treatment Effect assumptions is equivalent to assuming choices are determined by a simple two-factor selection model in which agents first decide whether to participate in treatment at all and then decide how much. The instruments must only impact relative utility in the first step. Although EMCO constrains unobserved counterfactual choices, it places testable restrictions on the joint distribution of outcomes, treatments, and instruments. |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2111.12258&r= |
| By: | Robert John Kolesar (Abt Associates, UA - University of Antwerp, Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance, CERDI - Centre d'Études et de Recherches sur le Développement International - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne); Peter Bogetoft (CBS - Copenhagen Business School [Copenhagen]); Vanara Chea (Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance); Guido Erreygers (UA - University of Antwerp); Sambo Pheakdey (Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance) |
| Abstract: | COVID-19 is causing serious impacts on tax revenue and consequentially on public health budgets. This study assesses Cambodia's public health services technical efficiency, unit costs, and utilization rates to quantify the extent to which current health financing can accommodate the expansion of social health protection coverage. Overall, for the public health system to be fully efficient output would need to increase by 34 and 73 percent for hospitals and health centers, respectively. We find public sector service quality, private sector providers, and non-discretionary financing to be statistically significant factors affecting technical efficiency. This study pioneers the application of Data Envelopment Analysis-Aumann-Shapley applied cost allocation to the health sector, enabling unit cost estimation for the major social health insurance payment categories. We estimate there is potential supply-side 'service space' to expand population coverage to an additional 4.69 million social health insurance beneficiaries with existing financing if the public health system were fully efficient. |
| Keywords: | health service efficiency,social health protection,costing,cost allocation,Universal Health Coverage |
| Date: | 2021–08–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03437398&r= |
| By: | Michael E. Darden; David Dowdy; Lauren Gardner; Barton Hamilton; Karen Kopecky; Melissa Marx; Nicholas W. Papageorge; Daniel Polsky; Kimberly Powers; Elizabeth Stuart; Matthew Zahn |
| Abstract: | Facing unprecedented uncertainty and drastic trade-offs between public health and other forms of human well-being, policy makers during the Covid-19 pandemic have sought the guidance of epidemiologists and economists. Unfortunately, while both groups of scientists use many of the same basic mathematical tools, the models they develop to inform policy tend to rely on different sets of assumptions and, thus, often lead to different policy conclusions. This divergence in policy recommendations can lead to uncertainty and confusion, opening the door to disinformation, distrust of institutions, and politicization of scientific facts. Unfortunately, to date, there have not been widespread efforts to build bridges and find consensus or even to clarify sources of differences across these fields, members of whom often continue to work within their traditional academic silos. In response to this “crisis of communication,” we convened a group of scholars from epidemiology, economics, and related fields (e.g., statistics, engineering, and health policy) to discuss approaches to modeling economy-wide pandemics. We summarize these conversations by providing a consensus view of disciplinary differences (including critiques) and working through a specific policy example. Thereafter, we chart a path forward for more effective synergy between disciplines, which we hope will lead to better policies as the current pandemic evolves and future pandemics emerge. |
| JEL: | C8 H0 I1 J0 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29475&r= |
| By: | Amr Hosny |
| Abstract: | This paper finds empirical evidence that faster and smarter containment measures were associated with lower fiscal responses to the COVID-19 shock. We also find that initial conditions, such as fiscal space, income, health preparedness and budget transparency were important in shaping the amount and design of the COVID-19 fiscal response. |
| Keywords: | fiscal measures;containment measures;WP;health index;containment measure;OxCGRT containment;ATL health specification;containment health indices; COVID-19; Fiscal space; Fiscal performance assessment; Income; Middle East and Central Asia; Global; Western Hemisphere |
| Date: | 2021–03–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2021/065&r= |
| By: | Phu Nguyen Van; Thierry Blayac; Dimitri Dubois; Sebastien Duchene; Marc Willinger; Bruno Ventelou |
| Abstract: | In the need to assess anti-COVID-19 policies in terms of public acceptability, we report the key results of a Discrete Choice Experiment based on a representative sample of the French population. Preference-ranking analysis is performed for the whole population and by subgroups. Results show that wearing masks, transport limitations, and digital-tracking are well accepted. However, restaurant closures and excessive leisure travel restrictions are not. The acceptability depends on personal characteristics: political orientation, health vulnerability, or age. The young population differs from others, in terms of policies preferences and in their claim for monetary compensation, suggesting a tailored policy for them. |
| Keywords: | Covid-19, policy design, discrete choice experiment, individual preferences, acceptability |
| JEL: | C90 D90 I18 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2021-33&r= |
| By: | Isphording, Ingo E. (IZA); Diederichs, Marc (University of Mainz); van Ewijk, Reyn (University of Mainz); Pestel, Nico (ROA, Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | We use event-study models based on staggered summer vacations in Germany to estimate the effect of school re-openings after the summer of 2021 on the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Estimations are based on daily counts of confirmed coronavirus infections across all 401 German counties. Our results are consistent with mandatory testing contributing to containment of cases by uncovering otherwise undetected (asymptomatic) cases. Case numbers in school-aged children spike in the first week after the summer breaks but then turn not significantly different from zero. Case numbers in prime-aged age groups gradually decrease after school re-openings, arguably as a result of detected clusters through the school testing. The age group 60+ remains unaffected by the school re-openings. We conclude that the combination of mandatory testing and compulsory school attendance can provide an unbiased and near-complete surveillance of the pandemic. Thus, under certain conditions open schools can play a role in containing the spread of the virus. The trade-off between reducing contacts and losing an important monitoring device has to be taken seriously when re-considering school closures as a nonpharmaceutical intervention under the current circumstances. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, schooling, education, Germany |
| JEL: | I12 I18 I28 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14844&r= |
| By: | Alexandra Fotiou; Andresa Lagerborg |
| Abstract: | Following the Great Lockdown in 2020, it is important to take stock of lessons learned. How effective have different containment measures been in slowing the spread of Covid-19? Have containment measures been costly in terms of economic growth, fiscal balances, and accumulated debt? This paper finds that countries with previous SARS experience acted fast and "smart", and were able to contain the virus by relying mainly on public health measures ─ testing, contact tracing, and public information campaigns ─ rather than stay-at-home requirements. Using past coronavirus outbreaks as an instrumental variable, we show that countries with past experience were able to contain the virus in a smart way, reducing transmission and deaths while also experiencing higher economic growth in 2020. |
| Keywords: | containment measure; information campaign; contact tracing; smart containment; containment policy; success ranking; country income group dummy; COVID-19; Fiscal stance; Income; Communicable diseases; Europe; Asia and Pacific; Northern Europe; Africa; Middle East |
| Date: | 2021–04–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2021/099&r= |
| By: | Víctor Giménez (Department of Business, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain); Diego Prior (Department of Business, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain); Claudio Thieme (Faculty of Economics and Business, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile); Emili Tortosa-Ausina (IVIE, Valencia and IIDL and Department of Economics, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain) |
| Abstract: | The worldwide spread of COVID-19 since the beginning of 2020 has had a huge humanitarian cost. The pandemic has affected most countries globally, to different extents, and governments have implemented a variety of policies to minimise the impact on public health. However, the policies have varied across territories, even within the same state. This article proposes a nonparametric activity analysis methodology to evaluate how the different countries have managed the pandemic. Specifically, we propose an assurance region benefit-of-the-doubt (AR-BoD) model, which operates in two stages corresponding to an unconditional and conditional analysis. In the conditional model, we propose a further refinement of the model, since we consider two types of variables that might affect countries’ performance—structural and discretionary. Results show that an accurate assessment of countries’ management of the pandemic benefits largely from operations research methods since we obtain benchmarks and find out how these benchmarks (or best practices) vary when contextual factors enter the análisis. |
| Keywords: | Data Envelopment Analysis, COVID-19, composite indicators, assurance region, robust conditional convex frontier models |
| JEL: | C61 H51 I18 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jau:wpaper:2021/12&r= |
| By: | Vybhavi Balasundharam; Ms. Era Dabla-Norris |
| Abstract: | This paper uses an individual-level survey conducted by the Edelman Trust Barometer in mid-April for 11 advanced and emerging market economies to examine perceptions of government performance in managing the health and economic crisis, beliefs about the future, and attitudes about redistribution. We find that women, non-college educated, the unemployed, and those in non-teleworkable jobs systematically have less favorable perceptions of government responses. Personally experiencing illness or job loss caused by the pandemic can shape people’s beliefs about the future, heightening uncertainties about prolonged job losses, and the imminent threat from automation. Economic anxieties are amplified in countries that experienced an early surge in infections followed by successful containment, suggesting that negative beliefs can persist. Support for pro-equality redistributive policies varies, depending on personal experiences and views about the poor. However, we find strong willingness to provide social safety nets for vulnerable individuals and firms by those who have a more favorable perception of government responses, suggesting that effective government actions can promote support for redistributive policies. |
| Keywords: | inequality;perceptions;government;political economy;WP;government response;government performance;government intervention;health crisis;containment measure |
| Date: | 2021–02–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2021/053&r= |
| By: | Ann P. Bartel; Maya Rossin-Slater; Christopher J. Ruhm; Meredith Slopen; Jane Waldfogel |
| Abstract: | The United States is one of the few countries that does not guarantee paid family leave (PFL) to workers. Proposals for PFL legislation are often met with opposition from employer organizations, who fear disruptions to business, especially among small employers. But there has been limited data on employers' views. We surveyed firms with 10-99 employees in New York and New Jersey on their attitudes towards PFL programs before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found high support for state PFL programs in 2019 that rose substantially over the course of the pandemic: by the fall of 2020, almost 70% of firms were supportive. Increases in support were larger among firms that had an employee use PFL, suggesting that experience with PFL led to employers becoming more supportive. Thus, concerns about negative impacts on small employers should not impede efforts to expand PFL at the state or federal levels. |
| JEL: | H50 I18 I38 J38 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29486&r= |
| By: | Paul Malliet (OFCE - Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques - Sciences Po - Sciences Po); Frédéric Reynés (OFCE - Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques - Sciences Po - Sciences Po); Gissela Landa (OFCE - Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques - Sciences Po - Sciences Po); Meriem Hamdi‑cherif; Aurélien Saussay (OFCE - Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques - Sciences Po - Sciences Po) |
| Abstract: | In response to the COVID-19 health crisis, the French government has imposed drastic lockdown measures for a period of 55 days. This paper provides a quantitative assessment of the economic and environmental impacts of these measures in the short and long term. We use a Computable General Equilibrium model designed to assess environmental and energy policies impacts at the macroeconomic and sectoral levels. We find that the lockdown has led to a significant decrease in economic output of 5% of GDP, but a positive environmental impact with a 6.6% reduction in CO2 emissions in 2020. Both decreases are temporary: economic and environmental indicators return to their baseline trajectory after a few years. CO2 emissions even end up significantly higher after the COVID-19 crisis when we account for persistently low oil prices. We then investigate whether implementing carbon pricing can still yield positive macroeconomic dividends in the post-COVID recovery. We find that implementing ambitious carbon pricing speeds up economic recovery while significantly reducing CO2 emissions. By maintaining high fossil fuel prices, carbon taxation reduces the imports of fossil energy and stimulates energy efficiency investments while the full redistribution of tax proceeds does not hamper the recovery. |
| Keywords: | Carbon tax,CO2 emissions,Macroeconomic modeling,Neo-Keynesian CGE model,Post-COVID economy |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03403038&r= |
| By: | Sara Grubanov-Boskovic; Spyridon Spyratos; Stefano Maria Iacus; Umberto Minora; Francesco Sermi |
| Abstract: | The COVID-19 pandemic has created a sudden need for a wider uptake of home-based telework as means of sustaining the production. Generally, teleworking arrangements have direct effect on worker's efficiency and motivation. The direction of this impact, however, depends on the balance between positive effects of teleworking (e.g. increased flexibility and autonomy) and its downsides (e.g. blurring boundaries between private and work life). Moreover, these effects of teleworking can be amplified in case of vulnerable groups of workers, such as women. The first step in understanding the implications of teleworking on women is to have timely information on the extent of teleworking by age and gender. In the absence of timely official statistics, in this paper we propose a method for nowcasting the teleworking trends by age and gender for 20 Italian regions using mobile network operators (MNO) data. The method is developed and validated using MNO data together with the Italian quarterly Labour Force Survey. Our results confirm that the MNO data have the potential to be used as a tool for monitoring gender differences in teleworking patterns. This tool becomes even more important today as it could support the adequate gender mainstreaming in the `Next Generation EU' recovery plan and help to manage related social impacts of COVID-19 through policymaking. |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2111.09442&r= |
| By: | Cortes, Guido Matias; Forsythe, Eliza |
| Abstract: | We study the distributional consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic's impacts on employment, both during the onset of the pandemic and over recent months. Using cross-sectional and matched longitudinal data from the Current Population Survey, we show that the pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing inequalities. Although employment losses have been widespread, they have been substantially larger - and persistently so - in lower-paying occupations and industries. We find that Hispanics and non-white workers suffered larger increases in job losses, not only because of their over-representation in lower paying jobs, but also because of a disproportionate increase in their job displacement probability relative to non-Hispanic white workers with the same job background. Gaps in year-on-year job displacement probabilities between black and white workers have widened throughout the course of the pandemic recession, both overall and conditional on pre-displacement occupation and industry. These gaps are not explained by state-level differences in the severity of the pandemic or the associated response in terms of mitigation policies. We also find evidence that suggests that older workers have been retiring at faster rates. |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:clefwp:40&r= |
| By: | Blondel, Serge (Université d'Angers); Langot, François (University of Le Mans); Mueller, Judith E. (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Santé Publique); Sicsic, Jonathan (Université de Paris) |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that prospect theory, extended to account for differences across individuals in their patience and their valuation of the vaccination as a common good can explain why more than 40% of the population has intent to reject the Covid-19 vaccination, as well as the differences in vaccination intentions across population subgroups. Indeed, prospect theory by over-weighting the side effect explains the reject of vaccination. This can be partially compensated by a high patience and/or a large valuation of the collective immunity. The calibrated version of our model, based on an original survey carried out on a representative sample of the adult population living in France allowing us to identify curvatures of their value function, their discount rates and their willingness to cooperate, can predict the evolution of the vaccination intentions between November 2020 an March 2021. We also show that the international differences in the vaccination intentions are closely related to the valuation of the vaccination as a common good. |
| Keywords: | behavioral economics, COVID-19, prospect theory, vaccination choice |
| JEL: | D81 I12 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14823&r= |