|
on Health Economics |
| By: | Kühnle, Daniel (University of Duisburg-Essen); Johnson, Guy (RMIT University); Tseng, Yi-Ping (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research) |
| Abstract: | Interventions that combine unconditional permanent housing with support services, known as Housing First approaches, generally improve housing outcomes for people who have experienced chronic homelessness. However, little is known about their long-run outcomes or the consequences of ending such services. We investigate both aspects by examining the long-run effects of an intensive support program on the housing, employment, and health outcomes of chronically homeless people in Australia. Evaluating the three-year program over six-years using a randomised controlled trial, we document substantially higher rates of housing and better employment outcomes during the program period for the treated group, but no substantial changes in health. Three years after the program ends, we observe no significant differences between the treatment and control group with respect to any outcomes, including housing. Our results imply that stable housing is a necessary but not sufficient condition to overcome multiple sources of economic and social disadvantage. |
| Keywords: | RCT, social policy, Housing First, homelessness, employment, health |
| JEL: | R28 I38 I12 |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15678&r=hea |
| By: | Hamilton, Barton H. (Washington University, St. Louis); Hincapié, Andrés (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill); Kalish, Emma C. (Johns Hopkins University); Papageorge, Nicholas W. (Johns Hopkins University) |
| Abstract: | Health-maximizing and welfare-maximizing behaviors can be at odds, especially among disadvantaged groups, generating health disparities. We estimate a lifecycle model of medication and labor supply decisions using data on HIV-positive men. We evaluate an effective HIV treatment innovation that had harsh side effects: HAART. Measured in lifetime utility gains, HAART disproportionately benefitted higher-education men. Lower-education men were more likely to avoid the side effects of HAART that interfered with work. A counterfactual mandate to use HAART improves health but increases inequality because low-education individuals work less. A counterfactual non-labor income subsidy increases HAART adoption and improves health among lower-education individuals. |
| Keywords: | health disparities, health behaviors, dynamic demand, side effects, structural models, HIV/AIDS |
| JEL: | I12 I14 I20 J2 O31 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15711&r=hea |
| By: | Hollingsworth, Alex (Indiana University); Thomasson, Melissa A. (Miami University); Karbownik, Krzysztof (Emory University); Wray, Anthony (University of Southern Denmark) |
| Abstract: | The past century witnessed a dramatic improvement in public health, the rise of modern medicine, and the transformation of the hospital from a fringe institution to one essential to the practice of medicine. Despite the central role of medicine in contemporary society, little is known about how hospitals and modern medicine contributed to this health transition. In this paper, we explore how access to the hospital and modern medicine affects mortality. We do so by leveraging a combination of novel data and a unique quasi- experiment: a large-scale hospital modernization program introduced by The Duke Endowment in the early twentieth century. The Endowment helped communities build and expand hospitals, obtain state-of-the-art medical technology, attract qualified medical personnel, and refine management practices. We find that access to a Duke-supported hospital reduced infant mortality by 10%, saving one life for every $20,000 (2017 dollars) spent. Effects were larger for Black infants (16%) than for White infants (7%), implying a reduction in the Black-White infant mortality gap by one-third. We show that the effect of Duke support persisted into later life with a 9% reduction in mortality between the ages of 56 and 65. We further provide evidence on the mechanisms that enabled these effects, finding that Endowment-supported hospitals attracted higher-quality physicians and were better able to take advantage of new medical innovations. |
| Keywords: | modern medicine, hospitals, mortality, infant health, hospital funding, physician labor supply, medical innovation, health care complementarities, charitable giving |
| JEL: | I14 J13 N32 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15719&r=hea |
| By: | DeSimone, Jeff (Duke University); Grossman, Daniel (West Virginia University); Ziebarth, Nicolas R. (Cornell University) |
| Abstract: | Increases in youth vaping rates and concerns of a new generation of nicotine addicts recently prompted an increase in the federal minimum legal purchase age (MLPA) for tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, to 21 years. This study presents the first regression discontinuity evidence on the effectiveness of e-cigarette MLPA laws. Using data on 12th graders from Monitoring the Future, we obtain robust evidence that federal and state age-18 MLPAs decreased underage e-cigarette use by 15–20% and frequent use by 20–40%. These findings suggest that the age-21 federal MLPA could meaningfully reduce e-cigarette use among 18–20-year-olds. |
| Keywords: | e-cigarettes, minimum legal purchase age (MLPA), Monitoring the Future, regression discontinuity, vaping |
| JEL: | I12 I18 H51 H75 |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15671&r=hea |
| By: | Tobias König; Renke Schmacker |
| Abstract: | Sin taxes have become a widely suggested policy instrument to discourage the consumption of goods deemed harmful to individuals and society. Using surveys and experiments on a representative sample of the US population, we provide evidence on how individuals think and reason about such corrective policies. We reveal that preferences for taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are driven by normative considerations, including efficiency-related ideas and distributional concerns. In contrast, self-interested motives play only a minor role. Among the efficiency arguments, people place relatively large weight on externality correction, and motives to correct health cost misperceptions matter more than motives to correct a lack of self-control. However, anti-paternalistic attitudes and regressivity concerns are also prevalent, which helps to explain why the majority of respondents oppose SSB taxes, even though they agree that behavioral biases and externalities are relevant. Preferences for SSB taxes turn out to be malleable. Explaining to individuals the idea behind corrective taxation yields significant increases in the support for SSB taxes and the general openness to paternalistic intervention. |
| Keywords: | sin tax, internality, externality, soda tax, self-control |
| JEL: | H23 I18 D12 D78 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10046&r=hea |
| By: | Borbely, Daniel (University of Dundee); Lenhart, Otto (University of Strathclyde); Norris, Jonathan (University of Strathclyde); Romiti, Agnese (University of Strathclyde) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the effects of U.S. state-level marijuana policies on mental health. Using data from three nationally representative data sets and estimating difference-in-differences models that account for the staggered implementation of both medical and recreational marijuana legislation, we evaluate the impact on marijuana use as well as two measures of mental distress. We show that marijuana laws have positive effects on marijuana use, but find no evidence for any effect on mental health on average. Nonetheless, null aggregate effects mask sharp heterogeneities across the age distribution. Our findings show that elderly individuals (age 60 and older) benefit from medical marijuana legalization in terms of better mental health, whereas legalizing recreational marijuana produces negative mental health effects for younger individuals (below age 35). The effects of medical marijuana legislation are driven by elderly people with pre-existing chronic health conditions, whereas those of recreational marijuana legislation are driven by younger and relatively healthy individuals. Furthermore, results are stronger for women than for men. |
| Keywords: | marijuana legalization, recreational marijuana, medical marijuana, mental health |
| JEL: | I18 I10 K32 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15729&r=hea |
| By: | Farin, Sherajum Monira (Georgia State University); Hoehn-Velasco, Lauren (Georgia State University); Pesko, Michael (Georgia State University) |
| Abstract: | Legal abortion has recently been suggested as an essential healthcare service. In this study, we consider whether abortion legalization over 1969-1973 improved women's health, measured by maternal mortality. Our event-study results indicate that legal abortion substantially lowered non-white maternal mortality by 30-40%, with 113 non-white maternal deaths averted nationally in the first year abortion became legal. We also find that early state-level legalizations were crucial, and more influential than the Roe v. Wade decision itself. |
| Keywords: | abortion, legal abortion, maternal mortality, Roe v. Wade, maternal health |
| JEL: | I18 J13 K38 H75 |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15657&r=hea |
| By: | Bonsang, Eric; Costa-Font, Joan |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the relationship between locus of control (LOC) and the demand for supplementary health insurance. Drawing on longitudinal data from Germany, we find robust evidence that individuals having an internal LOC are more likely to take up supplementary private health insurance (SUPP). The increase in the probability to have a SUPP due to one standard deviation increase in the measure of internal LOC is equivalent to an increase in household income by 14 percent. Second, we find that the positive association between health and SUPP becomes small and insignificant when we control for LOC, suggesting that LOC might be an unobserved individual trait that can partly explain advantageous selection into SUPP. Third, we find comparable results using data from Australia, which enhances the external validity of our results. |
| Keywords: | private health insurance; health care use; risk aversion; locus of control; positive selection; supplementary insurance; Germany; Australia |
| JEL: | I12 I18 |
| Date: | 2022–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:117144&r=hea |
| By: | Hai-Anh H. Dang (World Bank); Trong-Anh Trinh (World Bank); Paolo Verme (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | Hardly any evidence exists on the effects of mental illness on refugee labor outcomes. We offer the first study on this topic in the context of Australia, one of the host countries with the largest number of refugees per capita in the world. Analyzing the Building a New Life in Australia longitudinal survey, we exploit the variations in traumatic experiences of refugees interacted with post-resettlement time periods to causally identify the impacts of refugee mental health. We find that worse mental health, as measured by a one-standard-deviation increase in the Kessler mental health score, reduces the probability of employment by 14.1% and labor income by 26.8%. We also find some evidence of adverse impacts of refugees’ mental illness on their children’s mental health and education performance. These effects appear more pronounced for refugees that newly arrive or are without social networks, but they may be ameliorated with government support. |
| Keywords: | refugees, mental health, labor outcomes, instrumental variable, BNLA longitudinal survey, Australia |
| JEL: | I15 J15 J21 J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hic:wpaper:376&r=hea |
| By: | Scott, Dario; Lima, Everton E. C. Dr. (Unicamp) |
| Abstract: | Combine data from parish records and formal demographic methods, we studied the historical changes in the mortality and morbidity profiles of the free and enslaved population living in the parish of Madre de Deus in Porto Alegre/Brazil, during the 18th and 19th centuries (1772-1872). This is a period that we saw many mortality crises, high mortality rates and various epidemics that affected the parish. Our findings indicated considerable differences in terms of death records coverage between the two compared groups, with the level of mortality coverage varying depending on the analyzed period. Men slave in general presented better death counts registers if compared to women with the same legal status. In terms of mortality levels, during this period, the life expectancy of slave population was 5.8-6.4 years lower if compared to non-slave groups. |
| Date: | 2022–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:w6uch&r=hea |
| By: | Arenas-Arroyo, Esther (Vienna University of Economics and Business); Fernández-Kranz, Daniel (IE Business School, Madrid); Nollenberger, Natalia (IE University) |
| Abstract: | Increases in mental health problems among adolescents have been concurrent with increased use of digital media, with bigger changes among girls after the mid-2010s. This study exploits exogenous variation in the deployment of optic fiber across Spanish provinces between 2007 and 2019 to analyze the effect of access to high-speed Internet (HSI) on hospital discharge diagnoses of behavioral and mental health cases among adolescents. We find a positive and significant impact on girls but not on boys. Exploring the mechanism behind these effects, we show that HSI increases addictive Internet use and significantly decreases time spent sleeping, doing homework, and socializing with family and friends. Girls again power all these effects. We find no evidence of an increase in online bullying. Finally, we show that fiber expansion harms the quality of the relationship between fathers and daughters, especially when that relationship suffers from a previous conflict. Our results help explain the observed widening gender gap in mental health among adolescents and are robust to various sensitivity tests. |
| Keywords: | high-speed internet, adolescents, mental health |
| JEL: | J13 J16 I10 I12 I18 H31 L86 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15728&r=hea |
| By: | Gupta, Aashish; Paikra, Vipul Kumar; Sharma, Kanika |
| Abstract: | Using data from four rounds of India’s demographic and health surveys, we document persistently higher child mortality among marginalized social groups in India. Compared to high caste Hindus, a privileged group in Indian society, marginalized children belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are 1.5-1.7 more likely to die before their fifth birthday in India. This mortality disadvantage has been persistent for almost three decades, despite rapid improvements in healthcare access, environmental determinants of health, and incomes in this period. These findings suggest that addressing social disparities in child survival would require challenging social inequalities both inside and outside healthcare settings. |
| Date: | 2022–11–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:5jqcn&r=hea |
| By: | Rania Gihleb; Osea Giuntella; Luca Stella |
| Abstract: | How does previous exposure to massive immigrant inflows affect concerns about current immigration and the integration of refugees? To answer this question, we investigate attitudes toward newcomers among natives and previous immigrants. In areas that in the 1990s received higher inflows of immigrants of German origin—so-called ethnic Germans—native Germans are more likely to believe that refugees are a resource for the economy and the culture, viewing them as an opportunity rather than a risk. Refugees living in these areas report better health and feel less exposed to xenophobia. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, refugees, birthplace diversity, public opinion |
| JEL: | A13 D64 J6 I31 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1174&r=hea |
| By: | Mika Akesaka (Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, Kobe University, JAPAN); Nobuyoshi Kikuchi (Department of Economics, The University of Tokyo, JAPAN) |
| Abstract: | We examine the effects of local labor market conditions during early pregnancy on birth and later outcomes. Using a longitudinal survey of newborns in Japan, we find that improvements in employment opportunities increase the probability of low birth weight, attributable to shortened gestation. This negative effect is driven mainly by the changes in labor demand for women. However, we find little evidence of a lasting effect of changes in labor demand during early pregnancy on severe health conditions or developmental delays in early childhood. Using prefecture-level panel data, we confirm that the negative effect on infant birth weight is not driven by selective fertility and mortality. |
| Keywords: | Labor market conditions; Newborn health; Low birth weight; Recession |
| JEL: | I10 J13 J16 J23 R11 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2022-37&r=hea |
| By: | Costa-Font, Joan; Vilaplana, Cristina |
| Abstract: | Individual preferences for ‘ageing in place’ (AIP) in old age are not well understood. One way to test the strength of AIP preference is to investigate the effect of health shocks on residential mobility to smaller size or value dwellings, which we refer to as 'housing downsizing'. This paper exploits more than a decade worth of longitudinal data to study older people's housing decisions across a wide range of European countries. We estimate the effect of health shocks on the probability of different proxies for housing downsizing (residential mobility, differences in home value, home value to wealth ratio), considering the potential endogeneity of the health shock to examine the persistence of AIP preferences. Our findings suggest that consistently with the AIP hypothesis, every decade of life, the likelihood of downsizing decreases by two percentage points (pp). However, the experience of a health shock partially reverts such culturally embedded preference for AIP by a non-negligible magnitude on residential mobility (9pp increase after the onset of a degenerative illness, 9.3pp for other mental disorders and 6.5pp for ADL), home value to wealth ratio and the new dwelling’s size (0.6 and 1.2 fewer rooms after the onset of a degenerative illness or a mental disorder). Such estimates are larger in northern and central European countries. |
| Keywords: | ageing in place; housing downsizing; health shocks at old age; Europe; residential mobility; mental degenerative mental illness; mental disorder; Elsevier deal |
| JEL: | I18 J61 R31 |
| Date: | 2022–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:116941&r=hea |
| By: | Lin, Zhuoer (Yale University); Ba, Fang (Yale University); Allore, Heather (Yale University); Liu, Gordon G. (Peking University); Chen, Xi (Yale University) |
| Abstract: | Dementia leads public health issue worldwide. China has the largest population of adults living with dementia in the world, imposing increasing burdens on the public health and healthcare systems. Despite improved access to health services, inadequate and uneven dementia management remains common. We document the provincial-level geographic patterns in healthcare utilization, outcomes, and costs for patients hospitalized for dementia in China. Regional patterns demonstrate gaps in equity and efficiency of dementia care and management for dementia patients. Health policy and practices should consider geographic disparities in disease burden and healthcare provision to promote equitable allocation of resources for dementia care throughout China. |
| Keywords: | dementia, health care, hospitalization, inpatient costs, in-hospital mortality, geographic variation |
| JEL: | J14 I11 I14 I18 H75 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15709&r=hea |
| By: | Aleksandra Kolasa (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences); Ewa Weychert (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences) |
| Abstract: | Out-of-pocket medical expenses are a crucial source of health care financing in a number of countries, and thus a significant burden for many households. In particular, large health-related spending can lead to financial hardship and impoverishment. The aim of our study is to assess the direct impact of large out-of-pocket medical payments on household poverty, while properly accounting for endogeneity between these two variables. We use catastrophic health expenditure as a proxy for problematic health-related costs and estimate recursive bivariate probit models using Polish household-level panel data. We show that the causal relationship between catastrophic health expenditure and relative poverty is significant and positive across different methodological approaches. However, we find no empirical evidence that a one-time incidence of catastrophic health expenditure creates a poverty trap. We also show that using a poverty measure which treats out-of-pocket medical payments and food consumption as perfect substitutes can lead to an underestimation of poverty among the elderly. |
| Keywords: | monetary poverty, catastrophic health expenditure, out-of-pocket medical expenses, recursive probit models |
| JEL: | I32 I14 J14 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2022-23&r=hea |
| By: | Cassar, Lea (University of Regensburg); Fischer, Mira (WZB - Social Science Research Center Berlin); Valero, Vanessa (Loughborough University) |
| Abstract: | Mindfulness-based meditation practices are becoming increasingly popular in Western societies, including in the business world and in education. While the scientific literature has largely documented the benefits of mindfulness meditation for mental health, little is still known about potential spillovers of these practices on other important life outcomes, such as performance. We address this question through a field experiment in an educational setting. We study the causal impact of mindfulness meditation on academic performance through a randomized evaluation of a well-known 8-week mindfulness meditation training delivered to university students on campus. As expected, the intervention improves students' mental health and non-cognitive skills. However, it takes time before students' performance can benefit from mindfulness meditation: we find that, if anything, the intervention marginally decreases average grades in the short run, i.e., during the exam period right after the end of the intervention, whereas it significantly increases academic performance, by about 0.4 standard deviations, in the long run (ca. 6 months after the end of intervention). We investigate the underlying mechanisms and discuss the implications of our results. |
| Keywords: | performance, mental health, education, meditation, field experiment |
| JEL: | I21 C93 I12 I31 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15723&r=hea |
| By: | Chenoweth, Erica (Harvard Kennedy School); Hamilton, Barton H. (Washington University, St. Louis); Lee, Hedwig (Washington University, St. Louis); Papageorge, Nicholas W. (Johns Hopkins University); Roll, Stephen (Washington University, St. Louis); Zahn, Matthew V. (Johns Hopkins University) |
| Abstract: | We examine individuals' decision to attend Black Lives Matter protests and demonstrations calling for less stringent public health measures to combat COVID-19 (e.g., for swifter reopening of businesses). Our analysis is facilitated by a unique staggered panel data set originally constructed to study the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19. A wave of data collected in the summer of 2020 was expanded to capture details about protest attendance, political views, and support for different movements. We find that protests may provide novel and policy relevant information about potentially widely-held and mainstream social preferences that are obscured by extremist politics. We present evidence that protesters are a diverse yet representative part of the population and that the decision to protest is deliberate in the sense that it is responsive to incentives and issue salience. We also provide novel evidence of movement overlap – attending a Black Lives Matter protest is associated with a higher likelihood of attending a protest calling for fewer public health restrictions. This finding counters typical narratives characterizing these two protest movements as diametrically opposed. In a political landscape dominated by the voices of extremists, our findings suggest we can draw a line between recent protest behavior and a less radical and less extreme majority (sometimes called the "exhausted" majority) that espouses more nuanced views than the politicians, policymakers and institutions that are supposed to represent them. |
| Keywords: | protest, Black Lives Matter (BLM), reopening, COVID-19 |
| JEL: | H00 H8 Z10 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15697&r=hea |
| By: | Muszynska-Spielauer, Magdalena; Spielauer, Martin |
| Abstract: | Eurostat’s official Healthy Life Years (HLY) estimates are based on European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) cross-sectional data. As SILC has a rotational sample dsign, the largest part of the samples are longitudinal, health-related attrition constituting a potential source of bias of these estimates. Bland-Altman plots assessing the agreement between pairs of HLY based on total and new rotational, representative samples demonstrated no significant, systematic attrition-related bias. However, the wide limits of agreement indicate considerable uncertainty, larger than accounted for in the confidence intervals of HLY estimates. |
| Date: | 2022–09–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:y2kba&r=hea |
| By: | Green, Colin P. (Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)); Nyhus, Ole Henning (Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)); Salvanes, Kari Vea (University of Oslo) |
| Abstract: | How much young children should be tested and graded is a highly contentious issue in education policy. Opponents consider it detrimental to child mental health, leading to misaligned incentives in educational policy and having little if any redeeming impact on educational performance. Others see early testing of children as a necessary instrument for identifying early underachievement and educational targeting while incentivising schools to improve the educational performance of children. In practice, there is large crosscountry variation in testing regimes. We exploit random variation in test-taking in mathematics among early primary school children in Norway, a low testing environment. We examine two forms of testing, complex but low-stakes mathematics tests and relatively easy screening tests aimed at identifying children in need of educational assistance. In general, we demonstrate zero effects of testing exposure on later test score performance but benefits for screening tests on low-performing students. While we demonstrate no negative effects on student welfare, we do find an indication that testing improves aspects of teaching practices and students' perceptions of teacher feedback and engagement. |
| Keywords: | student assessment, testing, student achievement |
| JEL: | I28 I24 |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15686&r=hea |
| By: | van Dijk, Ingrid K; Dribe, Martin |
| Abstract: | Marriage is protective of survival and contributes to healthy ageing, whereas both singlehood and widowhood are related to increased mortality and poor health. The long-term change in the mortality differentials by marital status, and its interaction with gender and social class, has not been systematically addressed in the literature. In this study, we explore the marriage premium for survival and widowhood, bereavement and divorce penalties for survival over time using an established database for Southern Sweden (SEDD) between 1905 and 2015. We show that married men have and had a survival premium, while especially widowers have increased mortality, most strongly directly after bereavement but also in the longer run. It is remarkable that there is such stability in the survival advantage of married men, despite massive social, economic and demographic changes. Mortality differentials by marital status are smaller for women and absent for much of the twentieth century. Over time, it appears that there has been convergence in the patterns of mortality by marital status between men and women. The divergence in mortality by marital status for women started in the blue-collar class. White-collar and blue-collar men were similarly affected by marital status. Overall, we conclude that marital status is important for longevity, and has been so for the entire twentieth century for men, and increasingly also for women. |
| Date: | 2022–07–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:63b5e&r=hea |
| By: | Sarracino, Francesco (STATEC Research – National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies); O'Connor, Kelsey J. (STATEC Research – National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies) |
| Abstract: | We estimate a measure of well-being efficiency that assesses countries' ability to transform inputs into subjective well-being (Cantril ladder). We use the six inputs (real GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom of choice, absence of corruption, and generosity) identified in the World Happiness Reports and apply Data Envelopment Analysis to a sample of 126 countries. Efficiency scores reveal that high ranking subjective well-being countries, such as the Nordics, are not strictly the most efficient ones. Also, the scores are uncorrelated with economic efficiency. This suggests that the implicit assumption that economic efficiency promotes well-being is not supported. Subjective well-being efficiency can be improved by changing the amount (scale) or composition of inputs and their use (technical efficiency). For instance countries with lower unemployment, and greater healthy life expectancy and optimism are more efficient. |
| Keywords: | subjective well-being, World Happiness Report, efficiency, Data Envelopment Analysis |
| JEL: | I31 E23 D60 O47 O15 |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15669&r=hea |
| By: | Wang, Jia (University of Wisconsin-Madison) |
| Abstract: | Increasing evidence has demonstrated that nonstandard work schedules are more prevalent among the less-educated population, and mothers’ nonstandard work schedules have adverse influences on children’s development. Yet, we have known relatively little about how such impacts differ across the educational distribution. Analyses using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study revealed that mothers’ nonstandard work schedules were associated with increased behavior problems among children, which was consistent across types of nonstandard schedules. Moreover, a “pattern of disadvantage” existed because such relationships were primarily limited to children born to mothers without high school education, a “truly disadvantaged” group in the contemporary United States. Comparisons in mothers’ well-being and family dynamics across educational groups suggested that the least-educated mothers not only had worse physical and mental health but also experienced elevated work-family conflicts on multiple dimensions. Decomposition analyses indicated that these intermediary pathways could account for a relatively small proportion of adverse influences of nonstandard work schedules among children of mothers without high school education. These findings suggest that children born to the least-educated mothers experience compounded disadvantages that may reinforce the intergenerational transmission of disadvantages and “diverging destinies” of American children. |
| Date: | 2022–07–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:a48rj&r=hea |
| By: | Yoshida, Yuki; Sitas, Nadia; Mannetti, Lelani; O'Farrell, Patrick; Arroyo-Robles, Gabriela; Berbés-Blázquez, Marta; González-Jiménez, David; Nelson, Valerie; Niamir, Aidin; Harmáčková, Zuzana V. |
| Abstract: | Gray literature is increasingly considered to complement evidence and knowledge from peer-reviewed literature for science-policy processes and applied research. On the one hand, science-policy assessments need to both consider a diversity of worldviews, knowledge types and values from a variety of sectors and actor groups, and synthesize policy-relevant findings that are salient, legitimate and credible. On the other hand, practitioners and scholars conducting applied research, especially in environmental and health-related fields, are affected by the time lag and documented biases of academic publication processes. While gray literature holds diverse perspectives that need to be integrated in science-policy processes as well as practical evidence unfiltered by commercial publication processes, its heterogeneity has made it challenging to access through conventional means for a literature review. This paper details one endeavor within the Values Assessment of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) to review gray literature using Google’s Programmable Search Engine. In the absence of a standardized approach, we build on a limited experiential knowledge base for reviewing gray literature and report on the potential applicability of our strategy for future reviews. Our results contrast the findings of our parallel review of academic literature, underlining the importance of mobilizing different knowledge bases in science-policy assessments, evidence-based practices, and applied research. |
| Date: | 2022–10–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:kcqem&r=hea |
| By: | Das, Sanchita Basu (Asian Development Bank); Sen, Rahul (Auckland University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically investigates the state of trade interdependency for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) essential medical goods—vaccines and their value chains, personal protective equipment, and diagnostic test kits—across 29 Asia and the Pacific economies. Expanding on Hayakawa and Imai (2022), the analysis investigates whether trade facilitation, proxied by membership in regional trade agreements (RTAs), can help mitigate any adverse impact on trade in essential medical goods. The results confirm that while trade is critical for Asian economies, its nature differs. Low-income economies are largely dependent on imports, whereas selected middle- and high-income economies are part of two-way trade and engaged in low end of vaccine value chain. We find that onset of the pandemic had hurt exports of these goods. This adverse effect is found to be lowered for economies engaged in RTAs. This emphasizes role of governments in committing to RTAs and implementing trade facilitation measures. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19; vaccine supply chain; essential medical goods; regional trade agreements |
| JEL: | F12 F13 R11 |
| Date: | 2022–07–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbewp:0666&r=hea |
| By: | Du, Xinming (Columbia University); Tan, Elaine (Asian Development Bank); Elhan-Kayalar, Yesim (Asian Development Bank); Sawada, Yasuyuki (University of Tokyo) |
| Abstract: | Since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, governments around the globe have undertaken multiple policies to control its spread. Yet, only a few studies estimated the cost of COVID-19-related stringency measures on economic output, which can be attributable to the time lag and low frequency of conventional economic data. To bridge this gap in the literature, this paper uses novel high-frequency and spatially granular surface urban heat island (SUHI) data from satellites to quantify the impact of COVID-19-related containment policies in the People’s Republic of China, exploiting variations in such policies. Three empirical results emerge. First, we find stringency measures decrease urban heat island in locked cities only marginally, which is equivalent to 0.04–0.05 standard deviation or CNY22.2 billion ($3.6 billion) of economic output drop which is a 0.09% annual gross domestic product decline in 2020. Second, our results suggest that governments have been learning continuously to manage containment measures better. Third, the government’s containment policies have generated both positive and negative spillover effects on unlocked cities in which the former effect has dominated the latter. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19 pandemic; economic costs of containment measures; surface heat island (SUHI) data from satellites; PRC |
| JEL: | A10 O20 |
| Date: | 2022–10–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbewp:0673&r=hea |
| By: | Florian Dorn; Berit Lange; Martin Braml; David Gstrein; John L. Z. Nyirenda; Patrizio Vanella; Joachim Winter; Clemens Fuest; Gérard Krause |
| Abstract: | Decisions on public health measures to contain a pandemic are often based on parameters such as expected disease burden and additional mortality due to the pandemic. Both pandemics and nonpharmaceutical interventions to fight pandemics, however, produce economic, social, and medical costs. The costs are, for example, caused by changes in access to healthcare, social distancing, and restrictions on economic activity. These factors indirectly influence health outcomes in the short- and long-term perspective. In a narrative review based on targeted literature searches, we develop a comprehensive perspective on the concepts available as well as the challenges of estimating the overall disease burden and the direct and indirect effects of Covid-19 interventions from both epidemiological and economic perspectives, particularly during the early part of a pandemic. We review the literature and discuss relevant components that need to be included when estimating the direct and indirect effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The review presents data sources and different forms of death counts, and discusses empirical findings on direct and indirect effects of the pandemic and interventions on disease burden as well as the distribution of health risks. |
| Keywords: | Covid-19, pandemics, health outcomes, disease burden, non-pharmaceutical interventions, economic decline, social distancing, healthcare access, integrated approach |
| JEL: | I15 I18 I19 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ifowps:_385&r=hea |