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on Health Economics |
| By: | Philipp Ager; Casper W. Hansen; Peter Z. Lin |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of the first effective medical treatment for an infectious disease—diphtheria antitoxin—on the historical health transition in the United States. Using an instrumental variable for local antitoxin adoption rates and information from approximately 1.6 million death certificates from 1880 to 1914, we find that the rapid diffusion of antitoxin led to a substantial decline in diphtheria mortality rates and increased life expectancy at birth. Exposure to antitoxin also significantly reduced school absenteeism. Overall, our results suggest that medicine played a more important role in increasing life expectancy in the early 20th century than previously thought. |
| Keywords: | Life expectancy; medical technology; antitoxin |
| JEL: | J11 N32 I15 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2024_607 |
| By: | Haddad, Joanne; Kattan, Lamis |
| Abstract: | By the end of the nineteenth century, labor legislation for women had become a prominent issue in the United States, with most states enacting at least one female-specific work regulation. We examine the impact of three previously unexplored legislation: seating, health and safety, and night-work regulations. Given that not all states adopted these laws, and the staggered nature of adoption, we rely on a difference-in-differences strategy design to estimate the effects on female gainful employment. Our findings indicate that laws regulating health and safety conditions and restricting women's night work increased the likelihood of female employment by about 4% to 8%, accounting for about 10% to 20% from the total increase during our period of analysis. Examining heterogeneous effects reveals that younger and married women without children witnessed the largest increase in the likelihood of employment. We also document that native, higher-class and literate women were also incentivized to join the workforce. Women's labor supply in the decades under consideration has been estimated to be quite inelastic with respect to own wage. Nevertheless, we find sizable labor force participation responses to the female-specific labor regulation we study. This indicates that the legislation must have shifted women's labor supply curves, either because it made jobs more pleasant, or because it improved perceptions about how respectable it is for a woman to work in the labor market. Both channels would reduce disutility from work, and increase labor supply at any given wage level. Our findings hold important implications for policymakers and advocates seeking to promote gender equality in the labor market. |
| Keywords: | Labor Supply, Labor Law, Gender Law, Gender Norms |
| JEL: | J08 J16 J21 J24 J78 K31 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1518 |
| By: | Kniesner, Thomas J. (Claremont Graduate University); Sullivan, Ryan (Naval Postgraduate School); Viscusi, W. Kip (Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: | Our research reviews theory and empirical evidence in the economics literature and provides a standard value of a statistical life (VSL) applicable to the Department of Defense (DOD). We follow Viscusi (2018a) by conducting a meta-analysis consisting of 1, 025 VSL estimates from 68 different labor market studies and find a best-set average VSL estimate of $11.8 million (US$2021) across all studies. For DOD analysts and practitioners, we advocate using our best-set VSL estimate for the vast majority of benefit-cost analyses (BCAs) within the DOD. In addition to providing a VSL benchmark to use in DOD BCAs, we also breakdown casualty types and provide a range of VSL estimates to use in sensitivity analyses. Employing restricted data from the DOD on over 6, 700 U.S. military fatalities in Afghanistan and Iraq from 2001 to 2021 we show that (1) fatalities are highly concentrated among young, white, and enlisted males, and that (2) fatality rates in the Army and Marines are in contrast to the low number of fatalities (less than 5%) in the Air Force and Navy. Applying standard VSL pay grade and income adjustments to U.S. military fatalities in Afghanistan and Iraq, we find adjusted VSL estimates ranging in value from $3.2 million to $27.6 million per statistical life (US$2021). |
| Keywords: | military, DOD, VSL |
| JEL: | H56 I18 J17 J28 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17441 |
| By: | Nora Bearth |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the mental health penalty for women after childbirth in Switzerland. Leveraging insurance data, we employ a staggered difference-in-difference research design. The findings reveal a substantial mental health penalty for women following the birth of their first child. Approximately four years after childbirth, there is a one percentage point (p.p.) increase in antidepressant prescriptions, representing a 50% increase compared to pre-birth levels. This increase rises to 1.7 p.p. (a 70% increase) six years postpartum. The mental health penalty is likely not only a direct consequence of giving birth but also a consequence of the changed life circumstances and time constraints that accompany it, as the penalty is rising over time and is higher for women who are employed before childbirth. |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2410.20861 |
| By: | Ubaldi, Michele (Marche Polytechnic University); Picchio, Matteo (Marche Polytechnic University) |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of mass shooting exposure on individuals' mental health by using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Our identification strategy relies on the quasi-randomness of mass shootings in a staggered difference-in-differences design. We compare changes in mental health outcomes of individuals living in affected cities with changes of matched individuals living in non-proximal and not affected cities. We find that mass shootings have a substantial adverse impact on mental health, which persists for up to six years. This impact is not statistically significant for Black individuals, whereas it is slightly more pronounced among women and older cohorts. |
| Keywords: | mass shooting, mental health, difference-in-differences, dynamic effect |
| JEL: | C23 I18 K14 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17388 |
| By: | Somers, Melline (RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research, ROA / Health, skills and inequality); Fleck, Lara (ROA / Human capital in the region, RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research); Groot, Wim (Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, RS: GSBE MGSoG, RS: CAPHRI - R2 - Creating Value-Based Health Care, Health Services Research); van Merode, Frits (Faculteit FHML Centraal, RS: CAPHRI - R2 - Creating Value-Based Health Care) |
| Abstract: | Like in many other high-income countries, the Netherlands experiences significant staff shortages in both healthcare and education. The key shortage occupations in these sectors are nurses and teachers. Both occupations suffer from high retirements rates and encounter difficulties in attracting and retaining (early career) workers. Due to early attrition, both sectors accumulate considerable hidden reserves. In this study, we estimate the magnitude of these hidden reserves and explore directions for unlocking this untapped potential. We define the hidden reserve as individuals who obtained a nursing or teaching diploma, but are not employed in the healthcare or education sector. Our definition of the hidden reserve also encompasses the number of additional hours that part-time workers could supply to reach a full-time working week. Using registry data, we show that the hidden reserves among (former) nurses and teachers by far exceeds the current staff shortages. Our analysis of survey data reveals that inactive nurses and teachers perceive several working conditions more favorably than their active counterparts. Activating this hidden reserve could involve strategies such as reducing work pressure and providing greater control over working hours, salary, and autonomy. |
| JEL: | J45 J81 J20 J30 I10 I20 |
| Date: | 2024–11–14 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umagsb:2024013 |
| By: | Alfredo Palacios; Simon Walker; Beth Woods; Gerry Richardson |
| Abstract: | Background: Transitioning from hospital to home presents significant challenges, particularly for patients aged 75 and above. The 'Your Care Needs You' (YCNY) intervention, evaluated through a cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT), aims to empower these patients by providing essential information and skills to prepare them for being at home. This study evaluates the cost-effectiveness of the YCNY intervention compared to standard care within the UK National Health Service (NHS) over the trial's duration (90 days post-discharge). Methods: The economic evaluation utilised individual patient-level data from the YCNY cRCT. The analysis was conducted from the perspective of the NHS and Personal Social Services. The analysis calculated the adjusted mean differences in costs and Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) between the YCNY intervention and control groups. In our base case, Multilevel Mixed-Effects Generalised Linear Models (MME-GLM) were employed to account for the hierarchical data structure. Additional alternative scenarios and a probabilistic sensitivity analysis were conducted to assess the robustness of the findings. Results: The base case results indicated the YCNY intervention reduced costs ({\pounds}269) and improved outcomes (QALY gain of 0.0057). The net health benefit (NHB) of the YCNY intervention using a cost-effectiveness threshold of {\pounds}15.000/QALY was 0.0246. These findings suggest the YCNY intervention dominates usual care, with a high probability (89%) of the YCNY intervention being cost-effective at a {\pounds}15, 000 per QALY threshold. The results remained robust across several alternative scenario analyses. Discussion: The YCNY intervention could represent a promising and potentially cost-effective approach for enhancing the safety and experience of older adults transitioning from hospital to home in the UK. |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2411.04339 |
| By: | Crick Lund; Kate Orkin; Marc Witte; John Walker; Thandi Davies; Johannes Haushofer; Sarah Murray; Judy Bass; Laura Murray; Wietse Tol; Vikra, Patel |
| Abstract: | Mental health conditions are prevalent but rarely treated in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Little is known about how these conditions affect economic participation. This paper shows that treating mental health conditions substantially improves recipients’ capacity to work in these contexts. First, we perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) ever conducted that evaluate treatments for mental ill-health and measure economic outcomes in LMICs. On average, treating common mental disorders like depression with psychotherapy improves an aggregate of labor market outcomes made up of employment, time spent working, capacity to work and job search by 0.16 standard deviations. Treating severe mental disorders, like schizophrenia, improves the aggregate by 0.30 standard deviations, but effects are noisily estimated. Second, we build a new dataset, pooling all available microdata from RCTs using the most common trial design: studies of psychotherapy in LMICs that treated depression and measured days participants were unable to work in the past month. We observe comparable treatment effects on mental health and work outcomes in this sub-sample of highly similar studies. We also show evidence consistent with mental health being the mechanism through which psychotherapy improves work outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Labour; Development; Human capital; mental health; psychotherapy |
| JEL: | D90 I14 O10 J24 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2024-03 |
| By: | Sanguinetti, Angela PhD; Alston-Stepnitz, Eli; Nelson, Leslie; Searl, Emily; DePew, Ashley |
| Abstract: | Pilot programs in California and beyond are exploring universal basic mobility (UBM), which calls upon government actors to ensure that everyone can access transportation services for basic needs. UBM addresses the problem of transport poverty, which is defined in various ways but is generally when transportation spending puts one below the poverty line or transportation is exceedingly time-consuming, unsafe, or unavailable. This research evaluated UBM-inspired pilot programs in Oakland and Bakersfield, via pre- and post-pilot surveys and interviews during the programs. Both pilots provided free-fare transportation services (shared micromobility in both cities and public transit services in Oakland) to populations vulnerable to transport poverty (residents of a low-income, minority-majority community in East Oakland and current and former foster youth in Bakersfield). Participants replaced car trips and/or walking with shared mobility and/or public transportation and reported improved access to jobs, food, health care, and social and recreational opportunities. They were able to go more places, more efficiently, and perhaps even enjoy the trip. The services helped participants carry out activities with more comfort and dignity and yielded social and cultural benefits. Lessons learned for program design and administration include the need for: providing some car-based services; clear communications throughout the program; training/support components for new mobility options; troubleshooting operations; and planning for turnover in program staff and fast changes in micromobility services. |
| Keywords: | Social and Behavioral Sciences, Mobility, transportation disadvantaged persons, low income groups, travel behavior, public transit, shared mobility, micromobility, pilot studies |
| Date: | 2024–10–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt6j66v8kc |
| By: | Ronak Jain; Vatsal Khandelwal |
| Abstract: | Inaccurate beliefs about social norms can reduce useful social interactions and adversely affect an individual’s ability to deal with negative shocks. We implement a randomized controlled trial with low-income workers in urban India who lack access to formal financial and healthcare support. We find that the majority of individuals underestimate their community’s willingness to engage in dialogue around financial and mental health concerns. Belief correction leads to a large increase in the demand for network-based assistance. We show that the effects are driven by a reduction in the perceived costs of violating social norms arising due to concerns around reputation and insensitivity. We structurally estimate a network diffusion model and predict that our belief correction intervention will not lead to a shift in equilibrium engagement. Consistent with this, 2 years later, we find that the average beliefs of those exposed to the intervention are significantly more optimistic but still lower than the information delivered in the experiment. We compute the strength of counterfactual interventions needed to generate a sustained effect and find that belief correction can be used to generate both the demand and funding for such policies. |
| Keywords: | Social networks; social norms; beliefs; risk sharing; Mental health |
| JEL: | C93 D83 D91 I12 I31 Z13 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2024-06 |
| By: | Cameron , Lisa (University of Melbourne); Huang, An (Monash University); Santos, Paulo (Monash University); Thomas , Milan (Asian Development Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates behavioral adaptation to local improvements in environmental quality. Using exogenous variation in village sanitation coverage generated by the randomized allocation of financial incentives to latrine construction in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, we find that the generalized adoption of improved sanitation led to significant reductions in the practice of boiling water for drinking. Our analysis suggests that this change is likely a behavioral response to a reduction in the health benefits associated with treating water, which decline and eventually become negligible as local adoption of improved sanitation increases. Estimates of the value of time savings associated with the reduction in water boiling suggest that this adaptation is an additional important benefit of sanitation investments, most of which likely accrues to girls and women. |
| Keywords: | WASH; water boiling; height-for-age; firewood collection |
| JEL: | I12 O15 Q50 |
| Date: | 2024–11–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbewp:0751 |
| By: | Bhattacharya, Titir (University of Warwick); Chakraborty, Tanika (Indian Institute of Management Calcutta); Mukherjee, Anirban (University of Calcutta) |
| Abstract: | In response to a remarkably high out of pocket (OOP) health expenditure in India, various state and the national governments in India, tried to introduce public health insurance programs. Despite being free, the take up and utilization of these programs remain low. In this paper, we seek to explain this puzzle by studying the role of informal networks in explaining insurance-adoption behavior in the context of the Arogyasri health insurance program introduced in the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh between 2007 and 2008. We use household panel data from the Young Lives Survey (YLS) to empirically study how the adoption of Arogyasri among poor households respond to their membership in informal networks. In this context, we differentiate between two types of network – financial network and information network. We find that adoption and utilization are significantly higher for households with access to informal financial networks. However, adoption and utilization increases much more for households outside informal networks, after they experience health shocks. Information sharing role of informal networks do not seem to affect the decision to adopt insurance. We also provide a simple theoretical framework to discuss the potential mechanisms underlying our empirical results. |
| Date: | 2024–10–29 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:2mq5v |
| By: | Shanker, Ankit; Vlaev, Ivo |
| Abstract: | Abstract This study examines the impact of social versus algorithmic corrections of vaccine misinformation on social media, on the perceptions of social norms around vaccination and vaccine intentions during a hypothetical pandemic. In an online experiment with 720 participants, we assessed whether user-generated or algorithmically generated corrections influenced perception of social norms measured as beliefs about other’s vaccination intentions (empirical expectations about vaccination), perception about the social appropriateness of vaccine refusal (normative expectations), and beliefs about others' perceptions of vaccine safety (second-order normative beliefs), and own vaccine intentions. User-generated corrections significantly increased the perceptions that refusing vaccination is socially very inappropriate and increased the perception that consensus is in support of vaccine safety. Algorithmic corrections did not influence social norm perceptions. Interestingly, neither social nor algorithmic corrections significantly altered empirical expectations about others' vaccination intentions. Both corrections also helped maintain participants' high initial vaccine intentions with algorithmic correction having stronger effects, in contrast to a significant decline in intentions observed in the control group exposed to misinformation without corrections. Algorithmic corrections from credible health agencies were effective in sustaining vaccine intentions, while user-generated corrections were more influential in improving perceptions of social norms. The study suggests that different correction types influence distinct determinants of vaccination behaviour: user-generated corrections reshape perceived social norms, while algorithmic corrections, citing credible sources, may better sustain high vaccine intentions. Keywords: Misinformation Corrections, Perceived Social Norms, Vaccine Intentions, Vaccine Misinformation, Social Corrections, Algorithmic Correction. |
| Date: | 2024–10–28 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:ahq26 |
| By: | Minh Tam Bui (Faculty of Economics, Srinakharinwirot University, THAILAND); Ivo Vlaev (Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, UK); Katsushi Imai (Department of Economics, The University of Manchester, UK and Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, Kobe University, JAPAN) |
| Abstract: | Ageing society poses an increasing need for elderly care and the essential role of unpaid family care in developing countries where more care burdens are imposed on women. Literature on the driver of gender care gap is limited and its association with social gender norms is both understudied and hardly measured/quantified. Using time-use data in 2014-15 and Labor Force Survey data in 2013-15 from Thailand, we first construct an altruistic time ratio for the whole sample to measure the extent to which individuals spend time on unpaid activities for others than themselves. We found that significant gender gaps in providing eldercare are associated with gender differences in altruistic time ratio. To consider the non-random selection for the elderly care, we then estimate the Tobit model with propensity score matching (PSM) for both elderly carers and non-carers and found that the social gender norm, defined as the district-level gender difference in the modes of altruistic time ratio, explains why women are more burdened with elderly care than men. To examine the underlying mechanisms behind women's time burden, we estimate a simultaneous equation Tobit consisting of elderly care time, leisure time, and time for paid work. The results show that the social gender norm indirectly reduces elderly care time for women by significantly reducing leisure time and paid work time, while the direct effect is dominant for men. The trade-off between paid work time and elderly care time is similar for men and for women, while that between leisure time and elderly care time is greater for men. Associations between elderly care and altruism or peer pressure imply that behavioural changes with a focus on social norms and social policies inducing such changes are important to achieve more gender-equitable eldercare provision besides the state provision of long-term care. |
| Keywords: | Unpaid work; Time use; Elder care; Gender gaps; Altruism; Behavioral change |
| JEL: | D13 D64 D9 J14 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2024-37 |
| By: | Somers, Melline (RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research, ROA / Health, skills and inequality); Stolp, Tom (RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research, ROA / Education and transition to work); Burato, Francesca; Groot, Wim (Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, RS: GSBE MGSoG, RS: CAPHRI - R2 - Creating Value-Based Health Care, Health Services Research); van Merode, Frits (Faculteit FHML Centraal, RS: CAPHRI - R2 - Creating Value-Based Health Care); Vooren, Melvin |
| Abstract: | The healthcare and education sectors suffer from shortages of nurses and teachers. Extending their working hours has often been proposed as a solution to this. In this study, we conduct a discrete choice experiment (DCE) in the Netherlands to elicit nurses’ and teachers’ preferences for different jobs and working conditions. We present both nurses and teachers with nine hypothetical choice sets, each consisting of two jobs that differ in seven observable job attributes. From the DCE, we infer workers’ willingness to pay for these different job characteristics. Moreover, we calculate how many additional hours workers would be willing to work if a specific workplace condition were met. We find that both nurses and teachers most negatively value high work pressure. Spending a lot of time on patient-related tasks is highly valued by nurses, followed by having more control over working hours. Next to work pressure, teachers place significant importance on receiving social support from both colleagues and managers. Nurses and teachers who work part-time require higher incentives to work additional hours compared to full-time workers. |
| JEL: | J45 J81 J20 J30 I10 I20 |
| Date: | 2024–11–14 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umagsb:2024014 |
| By: | Hatsor, Limor; Shurtz, Ity |
| Abstract: | We use a baby formula “food scare” in Israel in 2003 as a plausible natural experiment to study the causal relationship between breastfeeding and mothers’ return to work after childbirth. Analysis of administrative data covering the universe of births in the country shows that first-time mothers who gave birth shortly after the scare delayed their return to work. Their average months worked in the first six months after childbirth fell by about 11 percent relative to their counterparts in the previous year. Data from a major medical equipment lender in Israel indicates an increased likelihood of borrowing milk pumps, suggesting that the delay in returning to work was driven by an increase in breastfeeding. The results indicate that despite developments in technology and policy changes in recent decades, mothers still trade off work for the breastfeeding of their children. |
| Keywords: | motherhood, labor supply, breastfeeding, food scare, maternity leave, return to work |
| JEL: | I18 J13 J22 D1 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:306141 |
| By: | Dang, Hai-Anh H.; Deininger, Klaus; Cuong Viet Nguyen |
| Abstract: | We investigate the impact of a large-scale poverty alleviation program targeted at 62 poorest districts in Vietnam, analyzing multiple datasets spanning the past 20 years with a regression discontinuity design with district fixed effects. While we do not find significant program effects on household welfare (as measured by per capita income and poverty) and local economic development (as measured by nighttime light intensity and establishment of new firms), we find that the program facilitates a shift from farm to nonfarm employment and significantly increases the share of nonfarm income for rural households. One possible explanation for the positive effects on nonfarm employment is the improved access to credit that the program provides to participating households. We also find that the program increases household access to electricity, public transfer, educational subsidies for students residing in the program districts, and healthcare utilization, possibly through improving availability of commune healthcare centers. |
| Keywords: | poverty, targeting, household surveys, Vietnam |
| JEL: | C15 D31 I31 O10 O57 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1519 |
| By: | Hala Algrain; Elizabeth Cardosa; Shekha Desai; Eugene Fong; Tanguy Ringoir; Huthaifa I. Ashqar |
| Abstract: | The Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, expanding Medicaid and improving access to care for millions of low-income Americans. Fewer uninsured individuals reduced the cost of uncompensated care, consequently improving the financial health of hospitals. We hypothesize that this amelioration in hospital finances resulted in a marked improvement of quality measures in states that chose to expand Medicaid. To our knowledge, the impact of Medicaid expansion on the Medicare population has not been investigated. Using a difference-in-difference analysis, we compare readmission rates for four measures from the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program: acute myocardial infarction, pneumonia, heart failure, and coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Our analysis provides evidence that between 2013 and 2021 expansion states improved hospital quality relative to non-expansion states as it relates to acute myocardial infarction readmissions (p = 0.015) and coronary artery bypass graft surgery readmissions (p = 0.039). Our analysis provides some evidence that expanding Medicaid improved hospital quality, as measured by a reduction in readmission rates. Using visualizations, we provide some evidence that hospital quality improved for the other two measures as well. We believe that a refinement of our estimation method and an improved dataset will increase our chances of finding significant results for these two other measures. |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2411.03140 |
| By: | Metzger, Martina; Steinhauer, Hans Walter; Pédussel Wu, Jennifer |
| Abstract: | In this project, we analyze whether the arts can mitigate negative impacts of social distancing and isolation on mental health and wellbeing, ease the burden of closed day-care and school facilities on families, and preserve attitudes of solidarity and trust. Using the SOEP-CoV questionnaire, we examine whether experience with music enabled individuals and households to handle social isolation and distancing rules and requirements better than their peers without this artistic experience. Research has shown that persistent shocks on income have a significant impact on happiness and hence on social and health well-being, thus, we explore the importance of music in this context. Using discrete choice econometric estimation techniques, this paper finds that music does indeed mitigate the negative impact of prolonged social distancing proxied for by life satisfaction. In addition, musical practice leads to feelings of less social isolation during this period. |
| Keywords: | Covid-19 Pandemic, Music, Happiness, Isolation Panel |
| JEL: | Z11 I00 D1 C23 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ipewps:305268 |
| By: | Amal Harrati; Marisa Shenk; Bernadette Hicks |
| Abstract: | This paper examines high-frequency patterns that occur in the experiences with, behaviors during, and attitudes toward COVID-19 among people with disabilities since the pandemic began. It also examines the timing and predictors of plans to apply for Social Security benefits as a result of the pandemic. It uses biweekly and monthly data from the Understanding Coronavirus in America survey of the Understanding America Study and from the Household Pulse Survey. All analyses are descriptive. |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crr:crrwps:wp2023-17 |
| By: | Ransom, Tyler (University of Oklahoma) |
| Abstract: | I argue that increased consumption of vegetable seed oils high in omega-6 polyunsaturated fats has driven obesity in the United States, a link overlooked in the economics literature. Obesity rates have closely tracked the level of seed oils in the food supply since 1960, while diverging from calorie intake and exercise trends post-2000. I present evidence from biochemistry supporting this hypothesis, demonstrating how seed oils disrupt metabolism, fat storage, and other biochemical processes. I document supporting evidence of these mechanisms in economics research and population health trends. I then develop a conceptual theory of imperfect information to explain consumer overconsumption of these oils, considering the interactions among food and drug companies, scientists, government regulators, and medical providers in shaping dietary information and the overall food supply. Finally, I discuss policy implications, emphasizing the need for a coordinated approach. |
| Keywords: | obesity, vegetable oils, seed oils, food policy, nutritional biochemistry, polyunsaturated fatty acids, political economy |
| JEL: | I12 Q18 L66 I18 D72 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17390 |
| By: | Masaya Yasuoka (School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the findings from interviews conducted with individuals undergoing long-term care, detailing the realities of their daily lives and highlighting issues within various systems, including the current social security system. Although there are various reasons one might require long-term care, this study focuses on individuals affected by post-COVID-19 symptoms that persist after infection, adverse reactions from the COVID-19 vaccine, and adverse reactions from the HPV vaccine. The reason for examining these aftereffects together in one paper is that there are many commonalities in the daily life challenges, economic difficulties, and systemic issues that individuals face as a result of these conditions. This suggests the need for an integrated analysis of these aftereffects. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19 Vaccine Adverse Reactions, HPV Vaccine Adverse Reactions, Post-COVID-19 Symptoms |
| JEL: | I10 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kgu:wpaper:281 |
| By: | Danzer, Alexander M. (Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt); Zeidler, Helen (Technical University of Munich) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates time inconsistencies in food consumption based on a field experiment at a college canteen where participants repeatedly select and consume lunch menus. The design features a convex non-monetary budget in a natural environment and satisfies the consume-on-receipt assumption. Leveraging 3, 666 choices of different food healthiness, we find no time inconsistency at the meal level. Utility weight estimates at the dish level reveal that consumers balance healthiness between food categories. Individuals who exert self-control take up a commitment device as soon as available, while non-committers are present-biased. Dynamic inconsistencies in food and money choices are independent. |
| Keywords: | field experiment, dynamic inconsistency, commitment, food consumption |
| JEL: | D12 D01 C93 D91 I12 |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17415 |