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on Health Economics |
| By: | Paul Dolan; Christian Krekel; Helen Lee; Claire Marshall; Ganga Shreedhar; Allison Smith |
| Abstract: | There is a strong suggestion from the existing literature that volunteering improves the wellbeing of those who give up their time to help others, but much of it is correlational and not causal. In this paper, we estimate the wellbeing benefits from volunteering for England's National Health Service (NHS) Volunteer Responders programme, which was set up in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Using a sample of over 9,000 volunteers, we exploit the oversubscription of the programme and the random assignment of volunteering tasks to estimate causal wellbeing returns, across multiple counterfactuals. We find that active volunteers report significantly higher life satisfaction, feelings of worthwhileness, social connectedness, and belonging to their local communities. A social welfare analysis shows that the benefits of the programme were at least 140 times greater than its costs. Our findings advance our understanding of the ways in which pro-social behaviours can improve personal wellbeing as well as social welfare. |
| Keywords: | subjective wellbeing, volunteering, pro-social action, quasi-natural experiment, social welfare analysis, Covid-19 |
| Date: | 2021–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1772&r= |
| By: | Kanninen, Ohto; Böckerman, Petri; Suoniemi, Ilpo |
| Abstract: | We propose a method of studying the value of insurance. For this purpose, we analyze well-being of the same individuals, comparing sick and healthy years in German panel survey data on life satisfaction. To impose structure on the income–wellbeing gradient, we fit a flexible utility function to the data, focusing on the differences in marginal utility in the sick and the healthy state, by allowing for a “fixed cost of sickness”. We find that marginal utility of income is higher in the sick state. We use our estimates to gauge the value of sickness insurance for Baily-Chetty type optimal policy calculations. We also show that the income–wellbeing gradient has steepened over time in Germany and we use the fitted model to characterize this change. |
| Keywords: | life satisfaction state dependence risk aversion social insurance optimal benefits sickness absence |
| JEL: | C13 H55 I13 |
| Date: | 2022–06–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:113269&r= |
| By: | Amin, Vikesh; Behrman, Jere R.; Fletcher, Jason M.; Flores, Carlos A.; Flores-Lagunes, Alfonso; Kohler, Hans-Peter |
| Abstract: | We revisit the much-investigated relationship between schooling and health, focusing on cognitive abilities at older ages using the Harmonized Cognition Assessment Protocol in the Health & Retirement Study. To address endogeneity concerns, we employ a nonparametric partial identification approach that provides bounds on the population average treatment effect using a monotone instrumental variable together with relatively weak monotonicity assumptions on treatment selection and response. The bounds indicate potentially large effects of increasing schooling from primary to secondary but are also consistent with small and null effects. We find evidence for a causal effect of increasing schooling from secondary to tertiary on cognition. We also replicate findings from the Health & Retirement Study using another sample of older adults from the Midlife in United States Development Study Cognition Project. |
| Keywords: | Schooling,Cognition,Bounds,Aging,Partial Identification |
| JEL: | I10 I26 J14 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1114&r= |
| By: | Gianmarco León-Ciliotta; Dijana Zejcirovic; Fernando Fernandez |
| Abstract: | Trust in institutions is a key driver of the demand for government services, and in turn, the way these services are delivered affects trust. We study a large-scale family planning campaign in which more than 300,000 Peruvian women were sterilized. Many of these are alleged to have been performed without appropriate or informed consent. Using a difference-in-difference strategy, we show that subsequent disclosures about the alleged sterilizations reduced usage of contraceptive methods, pre-natal and birth delivery services, and -more generally- the demand for medical services and that child health worsened as a result. The results persist for at least 17 years after the information disclosure and are mainly driven by those who strongly supported the government at baseline, i.e. disappointed voters, and not by those who share demographic characteristics with the alleged victims. Learning about government mistreatment of citizens undermined trust in institutions. Our results highlight the relevance of how policies are implemented and communicated to citizens for ensuring their long-term success. |
| Keywords: | trust, public policy, reproductive health |
| JEL: | O10 I14 I18 N36 |
| Date: | 2022–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1843&r= |
| By: | Schiavon, Lucia (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | Several studies indicate that children, whose mother experienced postpartum depression, are at greater risks of emotional, behavioural, cognitive and interpersonal problems later in life. However, maternal postpartum depression might influence child’s development by affecting his health outcomes. Using data from the Millennium Cohort Study (UK data service), we investigate whether maternal postpartum depression has any impact on early child health development and if differences exist when the child is the first-born. In detail, we study the effects of maternal postpartum depression on a range of potential child health diseases at ages of 3, 5, 7 and 11 years and on the number of injuries or accidents occurred at the child, for which he was taken to the hospital. Our findings show a non-negligible impact of maternal postpartum depression for first-born children on those health issues enhanced by a stressful environment: wheezing (throughout childhood) and hay fever (at early ages). At later ages (7 and 11 years), children with a mother who experienced postpartum depression are also more likely to suffer from asthma. Furthermore, results indicate a significant strong effect of maternal postpartum depression on the accident rate at the ages of 3 and 5 years (the incidence-rate ratios are of 1.205 and 1.289 respectively). |
| Date: | 2021–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:dipeco:202103&r= |
| By: | AIZAWA Toshiaki |
| Abstract: | This study explores educational inequality in a workplace in Japan in relation to physiological risk factors. It investigates the difference in the prevalence rates of being overweight, hypertensive, dyslipidemic or diabetic between male employees who have undergone university education and those who have not. Combining the mandatory annual health check-up data and personnel data, we conduct a decomposition analysis to identify the major factors contributing to the inequality, and we measure the extent to which the observed between-group disparity is associated with the differences in observable characteristics. For all four conditions, significant disparities are observed between the groups. Between-group differences pertaining to alcohol consumption, smoking behaviour, job positions, psychological stress and family structure are the major significant contributing factors behind the between-group disparities in health. The results indicate that, along with a universal health-promoting approach, additional efforts to support less-educated employees should be initiated to mitigate the health inequality. |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:22046&r= |
| By: | Britta Rude |
| Abstract: | I exploit the staggered roll-out of a universal early childhood development program in Chile to assess the impact of a comprehensive approach to early childhood development on outcomes in middle childhood. Using variation across time and municipalities, I study outcomes such as school performance, cognitive development, parental stress, household relationships, and health. I use administrative data on students as well as newborns in Chile, standardized test scores of all 4th graders, and an extensive early childhood development survey. I find positive and significant effects on school performance. The effect is less pronounced for girls and the socioeconomically vulnerable population. The improvements in learning outcomes are driven by improvements in intra-household relations. Comprehensive programs are powerful tools but have several flaws. |
| Keywords: | Education and inequality, government policy, children, human capital |
| JEL: | I24 I28 I38 J13 J24 O15 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ifowps:_372&r= |
| By: | Sandra M. Leitner (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Roman Stöllinger (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a large sample of employees from 35 European countries to study the direct and indirect effects of ICT use on burnout and work engagement as two opposite poles of employee psychological health, where the former comprises the three dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism and professional efficacy. It applies the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model and analyses the mediating role of three job demands (work extensity, work intensity, social demands) and four job resources (social support from management or colleagues, job control, rewards) on workers’ psychological health. It accounts for the importance of the place of work for the effect of ICT use on workers’ psychological health by differentiating between four types of workers home-based workers, highly mobile workers, occasionally mobile workers, and workers who always work at the employer’s premises. The results show that ICT use is associated with lower levels of exhaustion but is unrelated to work engagement. Furthermore, work intensity, work extensity, social demands and rewards mediate the effect of ICT use on exhaustion, while job control and rewards mediate the effect of ICT use on work engagement. Our multi-group analysis attributes the negative effect of ICT use on exhaustion mainly to occasionally mobile workers and to workers who always work at the employer’s premises and highlights that the factors that mediate the effect of ICT use on workers’ psychological health differ across the four types of workers. Home-based workers stand out in two important respects first, ICT use per se is unrelated to burnout; second, only one factor – work intensity – mediates the effect of ICT use on burnout, but its effect is especially strong. |
| Keywords: | ICT use, burnout, work engagement, main place of work, job demands-resources model |
| JEL: | I10 I31 J81 |
| Date: | 2022–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wii:wpaper:216&r= |
| By: | Maddalena Ferranna; JP Sevilla; Leo Zucker; David E. Bloom |
| Abstract: | We analyze time use studies to describe how people allocate their time as they age, especially among paid work, unpaid work, leisure, and personal care. We emphasize differences in time allocation between older (i.e., those aged 65+) and younger people; between developed and developing countries; and by other demographic characteristics such as gender, marital status, health status, and educational attainment. We summarize related economic literature and crystallize a framework for thinking about key conceptual issues involving time allocation over the life cycle. We conclude by assessing the adequacy of global data resources in this area and by discussing some promising opportunities to fill salient gaps in the literature. |
| JEL: | D13 D15 J14 J22 |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30030&r= |
| By: | Messono O. Omang (University of Douala, Douala, Cameroon); Simplice A. Asongu (Yaoundé, Cameroon); Vanessa S. Tchamyou (Yaoundé, Cameroon) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the effects of historical prevalence of infectious diseases on contemporary sustainable development. Previous studies reveal numerous proximate causes of sustainable development, but little is known about the fundamental determinants of this widespread economic concern. The novelty of this paper lies in the adoption of a historical approach that sheds light on the deep historical roots of cross-country differences in sustainable development. The central hypothesis is that historical pathogens exert persistent impacts on present-day sustainable development. Using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Two Stage Least Squares (2SLS) in cross-section with data from 122 countries between 2000 and 2021, we provide support for the underlying hypothesis. Past diseases reduce sustainable development both directly and indirectly. The strongest indirect effects occur through property rights, innovation, globalization and government effectiveness. This result is robust to many sensitivity tests. Policy makers may take these findings into account and incorporate disease pathogens into the design of international sustainable development. |
| Keywords: | infectious diseases; sustainable development, economic development |
| JEL: | B15 B40 I31 J24 Q01 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:exs:wpaper:22/036&r= |
| By: | Barlow, Pepita; Sanap, Rujuta; Garde, Amandine; Winters, L. Alan; Mabhala, Mzwandile A.; Thow, Anne Marie |
| Abstract: | To ensure a high level of health protection, governments must ensure that health and trade policy objectives are aligned. We conducted a systematic review of the health impacts of trade policies, including trade and investment agreements (TIAs), to provide a timely overview of this field. We systematically reviewed studies evaluating the health impacts of trade policies published between Jan 19, 2016, and July 10, 2020. Included studies were quantitative studies evaluating the impact of TIAs and trade policies on health determinants or outcomes. We evaluated methodological quality and performed a narrative synthesis. 21 of 28 067 articles identified via searches met our criteria. Methodologically strong studies found reduced child mortality, deteriorating worker health, rising supplies of sugar, ultra-processed food, tobacco, and alcohol supplies, and increased drug overdoses following trade reforms, compared with the time periods before trade reform. However, associations varied substantially across contexts and socioeconomic characteristics. Our findings show that trade policies, including TIAs, have diverse effects on health and health determinants. These effects vary substantially across contexts and socioeconomic groups. Governments seeking to adopt healthy trade policies should consider these updated findings to ensure that opportunities for health improvement are leveraged and widely shared, while harms are avoided, especially among vulnerable groups. |
| JEL: | L81 |
| Date: | 2022–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:113791&r= |
| By: | Anqi Zhang; Katsushi S. Imai |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the impact of the universal pension programme on elderly poverty in both rural and urban China. Using the three rounds of panel data based on the Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2011-2015, we examine whether the universal pension programme reduced elderly poverty, comprehensively defined to cover both unidimensional and multidimensional poverty indices of the households and individuals. To utilise the longitudinal nature of the data, we apply the robust Fixed-Effects (FE) Model with Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and the FE Quantile Model with PSM taking into account the unobservable individual characteristics, such as entrepreneurship or risk preference. Our results show that the universal pension programme reduced poverty in monetary and non-monetary terms in both rural and urban areas. While rural people tend to continue to work in the labour market after the receipt of the pension, urban people work less due to the negative income effect of the programme. The panel quantile regression results suggest that the programme decreased the inequality in both monetary and non-monetary dimensions. Our results provide strong evidence to underscore the success of the Chinese universal pension programme in reducing poverty and inequality in both rural and urban areas. |
| Date: | 2022–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:man:sespap:2203&r= |
| By: | Go, Eugenia (World Bank); Hill, Sam (World Bank); Jaber, Maria Hanna (Asian Development Bank); Jinjarak, Yothin (Asian Development Bank); Park, Donghyun (Asian Development Bank); Ragos, Anton (Asian Development Bank) |
| Abstract: | What are the salient features of developing Asia’s tax revenues and public expenditures? How do these compare with other economies and how have they been affected by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic? To analyze these issues we assemble data across economies drawing on a range of sources to maximize temporal and coverage of economies. We find that while tax revenues in developing Asia steadily rose in the 2 decades before COVID-19, they continued to lag behind high-income economies and some developing peers. The region relies on indirect taxes, particularly consumption taxes, creating a relatively efficient but less progressive tax structure. Alongside these lower tax revenues, government expenditures on education and health were comparatively modest. Substantial fiscal policy stimulus in response to COVID-19 comprised both tax and expenditure measures which, combined with the impact of the downturn on revenues, has severely weakened public finances in many developing Asian economies. |
| Keywords: | tax revenue; government expenditure; pandemic crisis |
| JEL: | E62 H12 H20 H30 |
| Date: | 2022–06–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbewp:0665&r= |
| By: | Julia M. Puaschunder (The New School, New York, USA) |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses COVID-19 and its widespread and lasting inequality impacts around the globe. The paper also introduces the idea of the post-COVID-19 era heralding a new Renaissance that breeds a climate of ethics of inclusion. The economic, ethical and behavioral insights foundations of a vision for ethics of inclusivity advancements are provided in this article and concrete examples how to enact ethical inclusive leadership in the 21st century. Inequality alleviation will become necessary in inclusive leadership domains of the healthcare sector and providing access to affordable medicine. The currently rising gap between finance performance and real-world economic constraints exacerbated inequality and therefore ethics of inclusive leadership may bridge the gap between financial wealth accumulation and real-world liquidity constraints. Education is a driver of positive change that can transform globally in a digitalized learning space and social justice attentive education, which informs tomorrow’s inclusive leadership. Digitalization in the 21st century holds enormous implicit inclusive leadership potential to diminishes unnoticed inequality constraints that demand for attention to be overcome. The most pressing concerns over climate change are emphasized in order to then introduce a novel strategy to distribute the prospective economic gains from a warming globe equally within society, around the world and over time. The rest of the paper then discusses innovative methods to address inequality, for instance, through the combined strengths of law and economics. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, Climate Stabilization, Comparative Law and Economics |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:raiswp:0156&r= |
| By: | Bergner, Susan; Kump, Isabell |
| Abstract: | The proposal for a European Health Union is currently being discussed by the Council of the European Union and includes the strengthening of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) as well as the extension of its mandate. In light of this, the ECDC and the European Union (EU) member states can make the case for a new role for the ECDC. While the political weight of the member states is needed, the ECDC can seize the opportunity of expanding its regional and bilateral partnerships to promote health systems strengthening through development projects. In doing so, the ECDC would be contributing to sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda. |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:swpcom:112021&r= |
| By: | Masato Shizume (Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University and Research Fellow, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration (RIEB), Kobe University, JAPAN) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the socioeconomic consequences of the 1918-1920 Great Influenza Pandemic (GIP) in Japan. First, it reviews the chronological and geographical patterns of the disease’s spread and policy responses by the government. It then employs panel analyses to test the quantitative effects of the pandemic on socioeconomic indicators such as population growth, factory employment, and capital formation. The study finds that 1) Japan was hit by the pandemic twice, once in the winter of 1918-1919 and again in the winter to spring of 1919-1920, with the urban population facing a greater risk to life because of greater exposure to the virus, while the rural population was more likely to succumb to the disease when infected, 2) a rise in the case fatality rate seemed to have a noticeable effect on socioeconomic activities in the short and medium terms, suggesting a trigger of population outflows and substitution of labor by capital, and 3) the government response included medical and public health measures but not economic measures. Though the GIP was similar to COVID-19 in terms of epidemiological patterns, it was very different in terms of human agency and socioeconomic consequences. |
| Date: | 2022–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2022-27&r= |
| By: | Johannes S. Kunz (Monash Business School); Carol Propper (Imperial College London) |
| Abstract: | In the large literature on the spatial-level correlates of COVID-19, the association between quality of hospital care and outcomes has received little attention to date. To examine whether county-level mortality is correlated with measures of hospital performance, we assess daily cumulative deaths and pre-crisis measures of hospital quality, accounting for state fixed-effects and potential confounders. As a measure of quality, we use the pre-pandemic adjusted five-year penalty rates for excess 30-day readmissions following pneumonia admissions for the hospitals accessible to county residents based on ambulance travel patterns. Our adjustment corrects for socio-economic status and down-weighs observations based on small samples. We find that a one-standard-deviation increase in the quality of local hospitals is associated with a 2% lower death rate (relative to the mean of 20 deaths per 10,000 people) one and a half years after the first recorded death. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, County-level Deaths, Hospital Quality, Health Care Systems |
| JEL: | H51 I11 I18 |
| Date: | 2022–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mhe:chemon:2022-01&r= |
| By: | Laliotis, Ioannis; Stavropoulou, Charitini; Ceely, Greg; Brett, Georgia; Rushton, Rachel |
| Abstract: | Using officially registered weekly death data, we estimate a baseline count of excess deaths during 2020 in England and Wales. We break down this number by region, age, gender, place, and cause of death. Our results suggest that there were 82,428 excess deaths in 2020 after the pandemic onset. Almost 90% of these excess deaths were due to COVID-19, suggesting that non-COVID-19 excess mortality may have been slightly higher that what has been previously estimated. Regarding deaths not due to COVID-19, individuals older than 45 years old who died at their homes, mainly from heart diseases and cancer, were the most affected. Supported by regional panel event estimates, our results highlight how measures to mitigate the pandemic spread and ease the pressure on healthcare service systems may adversely affect out-of-hospital mortality from other causes. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19,Excess mortality,Lockdown |
| JEL: | I10 I18 J10 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1117&r= |
| By: | Martial Foucault (CEVIPOF - Centre de recherches politiques de Sciences Po (Sciences Po, CNRS) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Vincenzo Galasso |
| Abstract: | On March 9th, with the official count of COVID-positive individuals at 7,985 and of deaths from COVID at 463, Italy was the first European country to entered into a comprehensive, nation-wide lockdown. Containment measures were further tightened on March 22nd, when a Prime Minister's Decree mandated the shut-down of any unessential productive activity, de facto bringing to a halt a large chunk of the Italian economy. Other European countries immediately followed: Austria on March 16th, France and Germany on March 17th, the UK on March 23rd.The aim of these lockdown measures was to confine the spread of the coronavirus, to limit pressure on the national health system and, of course, to contain the death counts. Different degrees of lockdown were implemented at different point in time and across different countries. These public policy measures included closing schools, closing non-essential businesses, economic activities and institutions, stopping public transportation, prohibiting meetings of two or more people, imposing quarantine on people entering the country, closing borders. Moreover, individuals were asked (or mandated) to follow health and social distancing measures, such as, washing hands, coughing in the elbow, stop hugging or greeting, keeping physical distance from the others, staying at home, avoiding crowed places, stop meeting friends. Early studies (Kraemer, 2020) show that these measures were effective in reducing COVID-19 spread in the province of Hubei in China. However, these restraining measures cause also economic and psychological harms for the restrained individuals (Brookset al., 2020) and have economic consequences (see Baldwin and di Mauro, 2020, for a review). |
| Keywords: | COVID-19,Cross-Country,Data Survey |
| Date: | 2020–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03455860&r= |
| By: | Xinyue Wen (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement, TSE - Toulouse School of Economics - UT1 - Université Toulouse 1 Capitole - Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Ismaël Rafaï (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement, GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) - COMUE UCA - COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015-2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UCA - Université Côte d'Azur); Sébastien Duchêne (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement); Marc Willinger (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - UM - Université de Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between mindfulness and well-being within thecontext of compliance with prophylactic measures in the time of COVID-19. We conducted a large-scale survey among a representative sample of the French population. We measured mindfulness,using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, and the extent to which respondents were impactedby COVID-19 in terms of their mood and quality of sleep, as well as how they complied withprophylactic measures. Our results suggest that more mindful individuals were less negativelyimpacted by COVID-19 with regard to their sleep and mood. Concerning the prophylactic measures,we obtained mixed results: more mindful participants were more likely to respect lockdowns, physicaldistancing and to cough in their sleeves, but did not wash their hands, wear masks or avoid touchingtheir face more often than less mindful individuals.. |
| Keywords: | COVID 19,Compliance,Well-being,Mindfulness |
| Date: | 2022–04–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03664438&r= |
| By: | Patrick Carlin; Brian E. Dixon; Kosali I. Simon; Ryan Sullivan; Coady Wing |
| Abstract: | Two discrete choice experiments conducted early in the Covid-19 vaccination campaign show that people dramatically undervalue the Covid-19 vaccine, relative to benchmarks implied by the value of a statistical life (VSL). Our first experiment found that median willingness to pay (WTP) for initial vaccination is around $50, only 2 percent of the WTP implied by standard VSL calculations. Our second experiment found the median person was willing to accept (WTA) about $200 to delay the second dose, only 32 percent of the WTA implied by standard VSL calculations. While standard economic models imply that vaccines are undervalued because of their large externalities, we interpret the finding that WTP estimates are well below the VSL benchmarks as evidence that internalities play a substantial role. This evidence that people undervalue even the private benefits of vaccination suggests that there may be a role for government beyond conventional efforts to correct externalities. |
| JEL: | H0 I0 I12 I18 I28 |
| Date: | 2022–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30118&r= |
| By: | Antonio Moreno (School of Economics and Business, University of Navarra); Steven Ongena (University of Zurich - Department of Banking and Finance; Swiss Finance Institute; KU Leuven; NTNU Business School; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)); Alexia Ventula Veghazy (European Central Bank (ECB)); Alexander F. Wagner (University of Zurich - Department of Banking and Finance; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); Swiss Finance Institute) |
| Abstract: | Is there a connection between the 2007-2009 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic? To answer this question, we examine the relation between both macroeconomic and financial losses derived from the financial crisis and the health outcomes associated with the first wave of the pandemic. At the European level, countries more affected by the financial crisis had more deaths relative to coronavirus cases. An analogous relation emerges across Spanish provinces and US states. Part of the transmission from finance to health outcomes appears to have occurred through cross-sectional differences in health facilities. Therefore, dampening financial-economic instability may yield long-term societal benefits. |
| Keywords: | Global Financial Crisis, COVID-19, local sovereign debt, death ratio, curative beds |
| JEL: | I10 G21 H1 |
| Date: | 2022–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp2244&r= |
| By: | Serrano-Alarcon, Manuel; Mckee, Martin; wang, Yuxi; Kentikelenis, Alexander; Stuckler, David |
| Abstract: | Far-right politicians in several countries have been vocal opponents of COVID-19 vaccination. But does this matter? We take advantage of repeated cross-sectional surveys with samples of around 3,800 individuals across Spain conducted monthly from December 2020 to January 2022 (n = 51,294) to examine any association between far-right politics and vaccine hesitancy. Consistent with prior data, we found that far-right supporters were almost twice as likely to be vaccine-hesitant than the overall population in December 2020, before vaccines became available. However, with a successful vaccine roll out, this difference shrank, reaching non-significance by September 2021. From October 2021, however, vaccine hesitancy rebounded among this group at a time when the leadership of the far-right promoted a “freedom of choice” discourse common among anti-vax supporters. By the latest month analyzed (January 2022) far-right voters had returned to being twice as likely to be vaccine-hesitant and 7 percentage points less likely to be vaccinated than the general population. Our results are consistent with evidence that far-right politicians can encourage vaccine hesitancy. Nonetheless, we show that public attitudes towards vaccination are not immutable. Whereas a rapid and effective vaccine rollout can help to overcome the resistance of far-right voters to get vaccinated, they also seem to be susceptible to their party leader's discourse on vaccines. |
| Date: | 2022–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:cvq78&r= |