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on Health Economics |
| By: | Audrey Bousselin; Isabelle Brocas; Giorgia Menta; Eugenio Proto |
| Abstract: | We document systematic parental under-reporting of children’s socio-emotional difficulties relative to children’s self-reports, using representative data from Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, and Australia. To study the origins of this discrepancy, we develop a simple theoretical framework showing how parent–child gaps can arise from information frictions and differences in reporting styles. We complement the model with a novel survey design that elicits both parental beliefs about children’s latent socio-emotional wellbeing and parental beliefs about children’s self-reports, allowing us to disentangle the different sources of the discrepancy. Using a new survey from Luxembourg, we estimate that approximately 70% of the observed gap is attributable to information frictions. Consistent with a Bayesian model of signal extraction, belief accuracy declines when children experience high levels of distress. The precision of second-order beliefs is negatively correlated with parental education, income, and employment, and—paradoxically—with more accurate priors about aggregate parental under-reporting, a pattern we refer to as the Capacity Paradox. As predicted by the model, a randomized information intervention shifts both first- and second-order beliefs only among parents with weak priors and generates heterogeneous effects on intended parental investments. These findings highlight the central role of second-order beliefs in understanding parental misperceptions and the potential for targeted information policies to improve parental awareness of children’s socio-emotional wellbeing. |
| Keywords: | parental beliefs, child wellbeing, information frictions, second-order beliefs, Bayesian learning, reporting bias, information interventions. |
| JEL: | J13 J24 I10 I31 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12534 |
| By: | Yaming Cao; Björn Fischer-Weckemann; Johannes Geyer; Nicolas Ziebarth |
| Abstract: | In 2001, Germany abolished public occupational disability insurance (ODI)—the second tier of its public DI system—for cohorts born after 1960. Using administrative data, we first document that, in the long run, overall DI inflows declined by roughly one-third. Second, using representative survey data, we document at best modest ODI insurance take-up responses in the private individual, risk-rated market, which lacks guaranteed issue. Third, an equilibrium model incorporating interactions between the public safety net, the first-tier public DI, and the private market reveals that coverage denials and weak insurance demand, driven by complementary social insurance, can explain the modest private ODI take-up response. Coverage gradients by income and health are thus substantial. Finally, counterfactual simulations highlight the limited scope of incremental reforms. |
| Keywords: | Occupational disability insurance, individual private DI, coverage denials, risk rating, private information, adverse selection, social safety net |
| JEL: | D14 D82 H53 H55 I14 I18 J14 J26 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp2157 |
| By: | Ayyagari, Padmaja (University of South Florida); Salm, Martin (Tilburg University); Sargent, Eric (Tilburg University) |
| Abstract: | We study how health insurance deductibles affect healthcare spending and health using a regression discontinuity design and administrative data from the Netherlands. Exploiting an annual deductible reset, we compare patients admitted to the emergency room just before and after January 1. Patients admitted after the reset face zero marginal prices for care and incur 14\% higher annual healthcare costs. Despite substantially higher utilization, we find no effect on mortality or other health outcomes across income and health-risk groups. These results suggest that modest deductibles reduce healthcare spending without adverse health consequences. |
| Keywords: | patient cost-sharing, health insurance, mortality, regression discontinuity design |
| JEL: | I13 H51 D12 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18420 |
| By: | Luca Repetto; Davide Cipullo; Edward Pinchbeck; Jan Bietenbeck |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how World War I mortality shocks to British communities affected long-run innovation. Linking parish-level military deaths to universal patent data (1895–1979) and inventor records, we compare high- and low-mortality areas. A 10 percent increase in deaths reduces the probability that a parish produces any patent by 0.09–0.12 percentage points and the probability that a parish produces a breakthrough patent by three times as much. Mortality depresses both the entry of new inventors and the productivity of established ones, particularly in frontier and technologically complex fields. Mobility, collaboration, and stronger local innovation ecosystems mitigate these effects, albeit only partially. |
| Keywords: | World War, innovation, human capital, patents, lost generation |
| JEL: | D74 O15 O31 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12529 |
| By: | Henderson, Louis; Humphries, Jane |
| Abstract: | Caring labour, whether paid or unpaid, creates value, supports economic activity, and generates positive externalities, yet suffers neglect in conventional economic metrics. Breastfeeding exemplifies this: despite its critical role in infant health and social reproduction, its value is often unrecognized. Using historical data on weaning practices between 1850 and 1970, this paper traces how infant feeding interacted with broader economic and public health developments. As its economic costs fell and its benefits were better understood, prolonged breastfeeding protected infants from weak public health infrastructure. Yet as scientific discoveries on milk composition spurred commercial substitutes, and public health investment reduced the harms of early weaning, breastfeeding prevalence declined. The economic history of breastfeeding offers a study in how social and economic interventions yield unintended consequences. Our findings highlight the need for public policy that acknowledges care labour’s broader societal benefits, ensuring it is adequately supported rather than left to individual responsibility. |
| Keywords: | care work; health externalities; breastfeeding; economic growth and measurement |
| JEL: | N34 D63 J13 |
| Date: | 2026–03–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:127992 |
| By: | Rzepnicka, Klaudia; Sharland, Emma; Rossa, Marta; Dolby, Ted; Oparina, Ekaterina; Saunders, Rob; Ayoubkhani, Daniel; Nafilyan, Vahé |
| Abstract: | Background People suffering from common mental disorders (CMDs), such as depression and anxiety, are more likely to be inactive in the labor market. Psychological therapies are highly effective at treating CMDs, but less is known about their impact on long-term labor market outcomes. Methods Using national treatment program data in England, NHS Talking Therapies (NHSTT), with unique linkage to administration data on employment and census records, we estimated the effects of NHSTT on employment and earnings. We used an event study approach using individual fixed effects to capture time-invariant confounders and natural recovery. Results Overall, completing treatment led to a maximum average increase of £17 in monthly earnings (year 2) and a likelihood of paid employment by 1.5 percentage points (year 7). Those ‘Not working, seeking work’ saw a maximum average increase in pay of £63 per month (year 7) and a likelihood of paid employment by 3.1 percentage points (year 4). Patients in the younger age groups (25–34 years) saw the largest effect on the likelihood of paid employment by 2.3 percentage points (year 7), followed by those aged 35–44 years with 2.0 percentage points (year 5). Conclusions Completion of psychological treatment for CMDs through the national NHSTT program leads to sustained increases in both employment and earnings up to 7 years after the start of treatment. Our findings demonstrate the economic benefits of treating CMDs and how investing in mental health can impact labor market participation. |
| Keywords: | earnings; employment; labor market outcomes; mental health; NHS talking therapies; psychological therapies |
| JEL: | R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2026–02–27 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:137239 |
| By: | Jaison R. Abel; Richard Deitz; Nick Montalbano |
| Abstract: | Employer-sponsored health insurance represents a substantial component of total compensation paid by firms to many workers in the United States. Such costs have climbed by close to 20 percent over the past five years. Indeed, the average annual premium for employer-sponsored family health insurance coverage was about $27, 000 in 2025—roughly equivalent to the wage of a full-time worker paid $15 per hour. Our February regional business surveys asked firms whether their wage setting decisions were influenced by the rising cost of employee health insurance. As we showed in our companion post, respondents reported an average increase in such costs of more than 13 percent this year. Businesses providing insurance to their workers indicated that absent these cost increases, they would have raised wages by roughly an additional percentage point, on average, suggesting that rising health insurance costs resulted in a drag on wage growth for workers at these firms. |
| Keywords: | costs; health insurance; wages |
| JEL: | J30 R11 |
| Date: | 2026–03–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednls:102872 |
| By: | Tallås Alhzén, Malin (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how parental leave quotas may foster a more gender-equal division of parental responsibilities by increasing fathers’ uptake of leave beyond the reserved amount. Specifically, the paper examines whether the introduction and expansion of 30-days parental leave quotas in Sweden generated spillover effects on male coworkers’ leave-taking behavior. Using rich population register data and a regression discontinuity design, I find no evidence that the first quota introduced in 1995 affected male coworkers’ uptake of parental leave. In contrast, the 2002 expansion of the quota led to a statistically significant increase of almost nine additional days of parental leave taken by male coworkers. The increase primarily occurred early in the child’s life. As such, the increased uptake can be expected to contribute to a more equal division of parental responsibilities also in the long run. The absence of spillovers following the initial reform is consistent with the first quota being more distorting in nature and offering limited information about longer parental leave spells. The findings underscore the importance of societal context and policy design in shaping behavioral responses to parental leave reforms. |
| Keywords: | Peer effects; Parental leave; Quotas; Co-workers |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J18 Z13 |
| Date: | 2026–03–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2026_005 |
| By: | Krekel, Christian; Goebel, Jan; Rehdanz, Katrin |
| Abstract: | Most people consider parks important for their quality of life, yet systematic causal evidence is missing. We exploit exogenous variations in their use values to estimate causal effects. Using a representative household panel with precise geographical coordinates of households linked to satellite images of green spaces with a nationwide coverage, we employ a spatial difference-in-differences design, comparing within-individual changes between residents living close to a green space with those living further away. We exploit Covid-19 as exogenous shock. We find that green spaces raised overall life satisfaction while reducing symptoms of anxiety (feelings of nervousness and worry) and depression. There is also suggestive evidence for reduced loneliness. Given the number of people in their surroundings, a compensating-surplus calculation suggests that parks added substantial benefits during the period studied. |
| Keywords: | parks; green spaces; mental health; wellbeing; quasi-natural experiment; compensating surplus |
| JEL: | I10 I31 R23 H41 Q51 |
| Date: | 2026–05–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:137488 |
| By: | George, Babu (Alcorn State University) |
| Abstract: | The global expansion of large, energy-intensive data centers, accelerated by cloud computing, cryptocurrency, and artificial intelligence (AI), has created growing concern about implications for human health. Emerging scholarship highlights multiple health-relevant pathways: increased emissions of criteria air pollutants from power plants and onsite diesel backup generators, chronic environmental noise from cooling infrastructure, intensive water withdrawals that strain public supplies, and land-use changes that intersect with social determinants of health. Direct epidemiologic evidence on communities living near data centers remains sparse, with most work to date relying on lifecycle emissions modeling and indirect analogy with established air and noise pollution literatures. Nevertheless, modeling studies consistently project that by the late 2020s, U.S. data centers could be responsible for roughly 1, 300 premature deaths and up to 600, 000 asthma symptom cases annually, with an associated public health burden approaching $20 billion per year. Case studies reviewed document risks related to air pollution, water stress, and noise that fall disproportionately on vulnerable communities, with per-household health cost burdens estimated to reach multiple times the national average in some disadvantaged counties. Drawing on environmental health, noise science, water security, and environmental justice literatures, this article synthesizes current evidence, proposes a conceptual framework organizing four principal exposure pathways, identifies critical research gaps, and outlines policy and planning priorities to ensure that digital infrastructure development is compatible with public health protection and equity. |
| Date: | 2026–03–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:cnwyb_v1 |
| By: | Benjamin W. Cowan; Joe M. Spearing |
| Abstract: | The large increase in remote work since 2020 has prompted concerns about adverse effects on population loneliness and mental health. We show that any such adverse effects were small, in a UK context. We use data from UKHLS and differences-in-differences estimators that flexibly control for a rich set of covariates to compare changes in key variables amongst two groups: those who worked in teleworkable occupations in 2019, and those who worked in non-teleworkable occupations in 2019. While the former experience large and persistent increases in their probability of working remotely compared to the latter, any relative changes in self-reported loneliness or adverse mental health symptoms are transitory and disappear by the year 2023. |
| JEL: | I12 I18 J22 J32 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34914 |
| By: | Andlib, Zubaria |
| Abstract: | This study examines mental health outcomes among incarcerated adults using primary survey data in a developing country correctional system. Using validated mental health scales for depression, anxiety, and well-being, the study documents a high prevalence of psychological distress among incarcerated individuals. The empirical findings show that perceived overcrowding, exposure to violence, and social isolation are strongly associated with worse mental health outcomes, while regular family contact is associated with reduced psychological distress. These relationships persist after controlling for demographic characteristics and prison fixed effects. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that pre-trial detainees and long-term inmates are particularly vulnerable to institutional stressors. The findings highlight the role of prison environments as determinants of psychological well-being. In LMICs where mental health infrastructure is limited, prisons serve as critical components of public health systems. The results suggest that low-cost screening programs, violence reduction strategies, and policies that reduce overcrowding and facilitate family contact may generate meaningful improvements in inmate well-being. By providing systematic survey-based evidence from a developing economy context, the study contributes to the global literature on incarceration and health and informs policy debates on correctional reform and public health investment. |
| Keywords: | Mental health, Incarceration, Family contact, LMICs, Correctional institutions |
| JEL: | I12 I18 K14 J15 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1721 |
| By: | Crippa, Andrea; d'Agostino, Giorgio; Dunne, J. Paul; Pieroni, Luca; Tian, Nan |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the health consequences of civil conflict . It undertakes a cross-national analysis of the World Health Organisation's (WHO)'s disability-adjusted life years (DALY) dataset for 2020. The log of the DALYs is regressed on measures of conflict experience over the ten previous years, allowing for political and economic factors and spillovers from neighbour’s conflicts. This is done by using a non linear model and principal components estimation procedures. Substantial and significant effects are found. This supports earlier notions that civil war disproportionally affects children and young people. Robustness checks are made for different measurements of conflict experience, reflecting conflict intensity and persistence and these strengthen the conclusion that the legacy costs of a civil conflict are substantial and longlasting. |
| Keywords: | Civil war; public health; disability-adjusted life year |
| JEL: | D74 I18 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:127605 |
| By: | Koppensteiner, Martin (University of Surrey); Menezes, Livia (University of Birmingham) |
| Abstract: | We study the causal effect of maternal criminal victimization on child health using linked police reports and birth records from Brazil. Focusing on robbery and theft - everyday crimes not involving physical injury - we show that victimization during pregnancy increases low birthweight by 6.9 percentage points, with effects particularly pronounced among socioeconomically disadvantaged mothers. These effects are comparable in magnitude to those documented for physical assaults, indicating that stress and economic disruption alone adversely affect fetal development. We also document persistent effects, including elevated hospitalization and ICU admission rates in early childhood, pointing to significant intergenerational costs. |
| Keywords: | victimization, crime, birth outcomes, health investments |
| JEL: | I12 J13 K42 O12 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18413 |
| By: | Hiroyuki Kasahara; Weina Zhou |
| Abstract: | Selective mortality and fertility issues are persistent challenges in estimating the fetal origin effect, with attempts to address these issues being notably scarce. Evidence further suggests that selective mortality is more pronounced in males than in females. This study investigates the causal effects of prenatal exposure to the Great Chinese Famine on educational attainment by addressing gender-specific selection bias. We compare exposed individuals with their unexposed, same-gender siblings, using a famine intensity measure based on county-year level excess death rates. Our findings reveal remarkably similar consequences for both genders: on average, famine exposure increased illiteracy rates by 4 percentage points and decreased years of schooling by 0.3 years for both males and females. These results contribute to our understanding of the long-term impacts of prenatal malnutrition, while accounting for gender-specific selection biases. |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2603.01496 |
| By: | Eric Crettaz; Lukas Schlittler; Rudolf Farys; Oliver Hümbelin; Olivier Lehmann |
| Abstract: | This article examines the evolution of working poverty in Switzerland during the Covid-19 pandemic using detailed administrative register data, linked with survey data collected from over 200, 000 people. Switzerland represents a distinctive case, as containment measures were comparatively short and less restrictive, while extensive policy support—most notably short-time work schemes with an 80 per cent replacement rate—helped stabilise labour incomes. Consistent with this institutional context, results show that working poverty did not increase during the pandemic; rather, all three indicators used in this study point to a modest decline in 2020. This pattern mirrors earlier findings from the Great Recession, suggesting that when downturns are neither deep nor prolonged, absolute and relative poverty indicators tend to converge. The analysis further highlights heterogeneous effects across worker groups. Solo self-employed workers and domestic workers recorded no rise in working poverty, reflecting the protective role of targeted business support measures, although undeclared domestic workers remain outside the scope of the data. Essential workers experienced declining poverty risks in 2020 but a rebound in 2021 despite improving macroeconomic conditions, pointing to possible delayed effects of heightened work strain and health risks. By contrast, workers with high teleworkability were largely shielded from working poverty. The findings underline the importance of crisis-specific income stabilisation policies and raise broader questions about extending social protection to solo self-employed workers in future downturns. |
| Keywords: | Working poverty, Covid-19, social protection |
| JEL: | I32 J38 J21 H55 |
| Date: | 2026–03–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bss:wpaper:59 |
| By: | Asako Chiba; Kazuya Haganuma; Taisuke Nakata; Thuy Linh Nguyen; Reo Takaku |
| Abstract: | We examine how information provision affects the public's perceived COVID-19 infection risk after the official end of the pandemic as a public health emergency (PHE). We conducted our survey in Japan in August 2023, a few months after the government reclassified COVID-19 from Category II to Category V and officially ended the PHE. We find that none of the information treatments affected the public's risk perceptions in a statistically significant way, in stark contrast with a similar information-provision experiment conducted right before the reclassification. Our result suggests that the official end of the PHE may influence how the public responds to news about infection. |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcr:wpaper:e224 |
| By: | Richard Fabling (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | We estimate employment effects of Covid-19 vaccine mandates on workers in the New Zealand education and health sectors. Unvaccinated workers are classified based on whether they comply with or defy the mandate. We identify substantial heterogeneity in outcomes across these two groups, using already-vaccinated workers as the control group in a difference-indifference regression framework. Mandate defiers experience 'permanent' labour market scarring with higher non-employment, lower wages conditional on employment, and increased mobility within New Zealand, consistent with moving to work opportunities. These effects weaken over time but persist for at least two and a half years. |
| Keywords: | Covid-19; vaccine mandates; workers; job displacement |
| JEL: | I18 J63 |
| Date: | 2026–03–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtu:wpaper:26_04 |