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on Health Economics |
| By: | David Dranove; Martin Gaynor; Eilidh Geddes |
| Abstract: | While numerous papers document the effects of mergers on cost and quality, the effects of hospital mergers on access to care are less certain. Merging hospitals may limit access by closing one of the affected hospitals or eliminating individual service lines. However, hospital systems may have more resources to improve care delivery. We study the impact of hospital mergers on obstetric care in rural markets, where there may be heightened concern about the availability of local care options. Using a differences-in-differences approach, we find that when rural hospitals are acquired, there are substantial increases in the probability of obstetric unit closures, with resulting large reductions in the number of births at the hospital. We find mixed effects on health outcomes: there are small increases in maternal morbidity, but no changes in newborn outcomes on average. However, there are improvements of newborns with Medicaid coverage. Additionally, we find decreases in maternal transfers and increases in procedures consistent with women delivering in more resourced hospitals. |
| JEL: | I11 L1 L4 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34159 |
| By: | Martin B. Hackmann; Juan S. Rojas; Nicolas R. Ziebarth |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the misallocation of Medicaid funds, its consequences for reimbursement rates, the quantity, and the quality of care provided. Combining two decades of administrative, audit, and survey data on U.S. nursing homes, we show that states employ creative financing schemes to divert federal matching funds from their intended purposes. Our theoretical and empirical analysis demonstrates that, to increase federal matching funds, such schemes distort the quality-quantity tradeoff. In Indiana, exploiting plausibly exogenous variation in the rollout of a creative financing scheme, we find a disproportionate expansion of Medicaid-funded care for dementia patients in the lowest-quality nursing facilities. |
| JEL: | H51 H75 I11 I13 I18 J14 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34118 |
| By: | Angelique Acquatella; Victoria Marone |
| Abstract: | Health insurance lowers the out-of-pocket price of healthcare, and it is well-established that this leads to higher utilization of care. This type of "moral hazard" is typically viewed as a social cost of insurance. Within a standard model, we show that there are two important ways in which the consumer's ability to change her behavior in response to insurance can play a central role in the ability of insurance to protect her from risk. These are (i) by allowing optimal exploitation of real income gained in bad states, and (ii) by enabling more resources to be shifted to bad states than otherwise could be. We provide a theoretical characterization of these cases and quantify their importance empirically. Under standard parameterizations of demand for healthcare and health insurance, estimates in the literature imply that moral hazard accounts for as much as half of the total value of risk protection derived from insurance. Preventing consumers from changing their behavior in response to insurance would lower costs, but also result in a major loss of risk protection, on-net reducing consumer welfare in the population we study. Our results suggest that under-utilization of healthcare may thus be an equally important threat to welfare as over-utilization. |
| JEL: | D81 I13 I18 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34156 |
| By: | Marcella Alsan; Liran Einav; Amy Finkelstein; Jonathan Zhang |
| Abstract: | We compare care for Black versus white patients following pulse oximetry, a widely-used device for measuring blood oxygen levels which over-estimates oxygen saturation in darker-skinned patients. Black patients are therefore medically more appropriate for follow-up care than white patients with the same pulse oximetry reading. Yet, using data from the Veterans Health Administration on 3.5 million emergency department visits between 2014 and 2018, we find that Black patients systematically receive lower rates of follow-up care than white patients with the same reading. Our findings illustrate how bias in a medical screening device is propagated and amplified in downstream care. |
| JEL: | I11 I14 J14 J15 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34168 |
| By: | Marcella Alsan; Yousra Neberai |
| Abstract: | This chapter explores the multifaceted relationship between culture and health from an economic perspective, integrating insights from anthropology, psychology, and political science. It begins by examining how culture provides meaning to illness and suffering and explores how culturally grounded “disease theory systems” influence beliefs about what causes illness, how and whether suffering should be remedied, and the appropriate role of the state in allocating health care resources. The importance of culture in defining the boundary between normal and abnormal pathology is highlighted via case studies. The chapter next reviews evidence on how health behaviors such as smoking, firearm ownership, dietary practices, and reproductive decisions are influenced by cultural norms of masculinity and religiosity. Lastly, it examines how firms, governments, and civil society leverage and advance cultural narratives to influence individual behavior and public policy. Thus, culture in relation to health both naturally evolves and is actively constructed, with implications for health inequality and health policy. |
| JEL: | H10 I1 I11 I12 I13 I14 I18 P0 P50 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34134 |
| By: | Rebecca Mary Myerson; Allison Espeseth; Laura Dague |
| Abstract: | Millions of people lose access to safety-net programs each year because they do not complete the required administrative processes. In a large-scale field experiment, we randomized outreach offering personalized assistance during the Medicaid renewal window to identify the impact of transaction costs on coverage loss. Our intervention – which provided information and assistance – simplified the renewal process without affecting eligibility, ensuring that avoidable coverage loss among eligible beneficiaries accounts for any effects we find. Sending pre-recorded calls offering free one-on-one assistance from health insurance navigators increased Medicaid renewal by 1 percentage point, a 1.5% increase relative to the control arm. However, the phone number on file was likely no longer valid for at least one-fifth of beneficiaries, suggesting some people did not receive their calls. Receiving the call increased successful renewals the most for tribal members (by 8 percentage points or 13%) and children (by 3 percentage points or 4%); receiving the call also increased renewals for people with income below the sample median (by 2 percentage points or 4%) and people with chronic disease (by 3 percentage points or 4%). Together, these data suggest that some eligible people, including those who need care, lose Medicaid because they struggle with the required administrative processes. The findings do not support the typical rationale for allowing barriers or costs to enrollment—namely, that they efficiently discourage participation by those who do not need or value the benefits. |
| JEL: | C93 D73 H75 I13 I38 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34191 |
| By: | José Ignacio Cuesta; Pietro Tebaldi |
| Abstract: | A common approach to markets with adverse selection is to regulate competition to minimize inefficiencies, while preserving consumer choice among firms. We study the role of procurement auctions—leading to sole provision by the winning firm—as an alternative market design. Relative to regulated competition, auctions affect product variety, quality, markups, and remove cream-skimming incentives. We develop a framework to study this comparison and apply it to individual health insurance in the US. We find that procurement auctions would increase consumer welfare in most markets, mainly by limiting inefficiencies from adverse selection and market power, and by increasing quality. |
| JEL: | H42 I13 L13 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34141 |
| By: | Muñoz, Pablo; Otero, Cristóbal |
| Abstract: | We study whether the quality of managers can affect public service provision in the context of public health. Using novel data from public hospitals in Chile, we show how the introduction of a competitive recruitment system and better pay for public hospital CEOs reduced hospital mortality by 8%. The effect is not explained by a change in patient composition. We find that the policy changed the pool of CEOs by displacing doctors with no management training in favor of CEOs who had studied management. Productivity improvements were driven by hospitals that recruited higher quality CEOs. |
| Date: | 2025–04–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajt:wcinch:83337 |
| By: | Erkut Y. Ozbay; Ariel Rava; Sergio S. Urzúa; Emanuel Zur |
| Abstract: | In 2019, the United States implemented new regulations for Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) aimed at increasing transparency and strengthening accountability. These rules introduced stronger performance incentives designed to improve organ procurement outcomes. This paper examines the impact of the reform on organ donations, transplant activity, and associated system costs, with a particular focus on kidneys, given their clinical characteristics and the structure of the reform’s organizational incentives. We estimate that the new policy led to an average increase of 7.13 kidneys procured per OPO per month, relative to a baseline mean of 24.78. The largest effects are observed among top-performing OPOs prior to the reform, with similar patterns for transplanted organs. Consistent with these findings, we document an overall rise in total OPO costs, with statistically significant increases concentrated among low-performing OPOs. Finally, we present a back-of-the-envelope calculation estimating the fiscal impact of the reform. |
| JEL: | I11 I18 L3 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34140 |
| By: | Charles J. Courtemanche; Joseph Garuccio |
| Abstract: | Certificate-of-Need (CON) laws require the approval of states’ health planning agencies for health care providers to engage in regulated actions such as opening or expanding facilities or purchasing equipment. This study reviews the literature on CON laws, with an emphasis on how they affect hospitals. All else equal, economic theory suggests that hospitals should see fewer new competitors, charge higher prices, and earn higher net revenues. However, these predictions assume otherwise perfectly competitive markets, and health care markets are heavily distorted in ways that change meaningfully over time. Further, CON laws restrain not only entry of new facilities but also expansion of existing facilities, reducing their ability to leverage any potential regulatory advantages. Viewed in its totality, the literature suggests that CON laws benefit hospitals in some ways and hinder them in others. There is strong evidence of restricted entry and an increase in the number of procedures per hospital. However, other evidence points towards constraints on hospital expansion, while effects on prices and profitability are mixed and quality of care, if anything, appears to worsen. |
| JEL: | I11 I18 L25 L51 |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34026 |
| By: | Bhalotra, Sonia R. (University of Warwick); Daysal, N. Meltem (University of Copenhagen); Trandafir, Mircea (Rockwool Foundation Research Unit) |
| Abstract: | Mental illnesses emerge in childhood, making early intervention important. However, antidepressant treatment rates remain low following a controversial FDA warning. We provide some of the first evidence of impacts of antidepressant treatment in childhood on objectively measured mental health indicators and economic outcomes over time, and the first attempt to investigate under- vs overtreatment. Treatment improves Math scores in high school, post-compulsory education and adult employment and earnings, reducing welfare dependence. It reduces suicidality and hospital visits. Low-SES children benefit more. Policy simulations in a marginal treatment effects framework suggest under-treatment, highlighting that expanding treatment can reduce inequality. |
| Keywords: | physician leniency, Denmark, human capital, test scores, education, mental health, antidepressants, marginal treatment effects |
| JEL: | I11 I12 I18 J13 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18069 |
| By: | Michael W. Walker; Nick Shankar; Edward Miguel; Dennis Egger; Grady Killeen |
| Abstract: | We estimate the impacts of large-scale unconditional cash transfers on child survival. One-time transfers of USD 1000 were provided to over 10, 500 poor households across 653 randomized villages in Kenya. We collected census data on over 100, 000 births, including on mortality and cause of death, and detailed data on household health behaviors. Unconditional cash transfers (accounting for spillovers) lead to 48% fewer infant deaths before age one and 45% fewer child deaths before age five. Detailed data on cause of death, transfer timing relative to birth, and the location of health facilities indicate that unconditional cash transfers and access to delivery care are complements in generating mortality reductions: the largest gains are estimated in neonatal and maternal causes of death largely preventable by appropriate obstetric care and among households living close to physician-staffed facilities and those who receive the transfer around the time of birth, and treatment leads to a large increase in hospital deliveries (by 45%). The infant and child mortality declines are concentrated among poorer households with below median assets or predicted consumption. The transfers also result in a substantial decline of 51% in female labor supply in the three months before and the three months after a birth, and improved child nutrition. Infant and child mortality largely revert to pre-program levels after cash transfers end. Despite not being the main aim of the original program, we show that unconditional cash transfers in this setting may be a cost-effective way to reduce infant and child deaths. |
| JEL: | I15 O1 O15 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34152 |
| By: | Lavy, Victor (University of Warwick, Hebrew University, and NBER); Rachkovski, Genia (Tel Aviv University); Yoresh, Omry (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Literature has shown that air pollution can have short- and long-term adverse effects on physiological and cognitive performance. In this study, we estimate the effect of increased pollution levels on the likelihood of accidents in construction sites, a significant factor related to productivity losses in the labor market. Using data from all construction sites and pollution monitoring stations in Israel, we find a strong and significant causal effect of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), one of the primary air pollutants, on construction site accidents. We find that a 10-ppb increase in NO2 levels increases the likelihood of an accident by as much as 25 percent. Importantly, our findings suggest that these effects are non-linear. While moderate pollution levels, according to EPA standards, compared to clean air levels, increase the likelihood of accidents by 138 percent, unhealthy levels increase it by 377 percent. We present a mechanism where the effect of pollution is exacerbated in conditions with high cognitive strain or reduced awareness. Finally, we perform a cost-benefit analysis, supported by a nonparametric estimation calculating the implied number of accidents due to NO2 exposure, and examining a potential welfare-improving policy to subsidize the closure of construction sites on highly polluted days. |
| Keywords: | Workplace Accidents, Labor Productivity, Air Pollution, Government Policy JEL Classification: |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:770 |
| By: | Bradley Setzler |
| Abstract: | Existing structural analyses of the harmful effects of market consolidation focus on either product or labor markets in isolation, ignoring that product market competitors often compete for workers as well. This paper develops a unified framework for merger evaluation, finding that firms' simultaneous exercise of oligopoly power in the product market and oligopsony power in the labor market amplifies the harm from mergers to both consumers and workers. The model also demonstrates how merger-induced gains in labor market power incentivize firms to reduce product quality, highlighting an additional channel for consumer harm. The model's predictions are tested and quantified in the context of the recent consolidation of the US hospital industry. Linking panel data from several sources on all US hospitals from 1996-2022, a difference-in-differences design is estimated for nearly 150 high-concentration within-market mergers. Hospital mergers significantly reduce patient volume, increase prices, reduce employment, lower wages, and deteriorate quality of care, resulting in higher patient mortality. After recovering the structural parameters, the estimated model replicates observed merger impacts. Counterfactual exercises reveal that ignoring increased labor (product) concentration would lead one to under-predict the harm of mergers to consumers (workers). |
| JEL: | I11 J42 L41 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34180 |
| By: | Hui-Kuan Chung; Nick Doren; Lasse Mononen; Mia Lu; Marcus Grueschow; Helen Hayward Könnecke; Alexander Jetter; Boris B. Quednow; Nick Netzer; Philippe N. Tobler |
| Abstract: | Models of limited attention have the potential to become a new unifying paradigm that could replace the rational choice approach. In this paper, we test the limited attention hypothesis by enhancing attention using pharmacological substances. A total of 160 subjects participated in our randomized, placebo-controlled, and double-blind experimental study. We find that enhancing attention through boosting the noradrenergic system with reboxetine improves the quality of choice as captured by multiple different measures of rationality. Eye-tracking suggests that boosting noradrenaline promotes more rational choice by efficiently directing attention to more valuable options. Other attention-enhancing drugs (methylphenidate, which boosts the dopaminergic system, and nicotine, which boosts the cholinergic system) improve rationality to a lesser extent. Aside from testing the limited attention hypothesis directly, our results have implications for welfare economics, policy-design, and public health. |
| Keywords: | limited attention, rationality, pharmacology |
| JEL: | B41 C91 D01 D60 D91 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12078 |
| By: | Odunola Oladeji; Ilan Noy |
| Abstract: | For Africa, there is limited documented evidence on the impact of weather shocks on mental health. The expediency and need to understand this nexus motivate this study on the effect of extreme temperatures on self-reported mental health in South Africa. We combine district-level climate data with a nationally representative panel dataset from the National Income Dynamics Survey, which spans 2008 to 2017. Using a panel fixed-effects Poisson model, we observe that, overall, an additional cold day is associated with a reduced mental health score, while an additional cold night shows a positive relationship with mental health. However, delving into the seasonal intricacies of this relationship, the result shows that additional warm days are good for mental health in both winter and summer. In addition, warmer nights in the past 7 days during winter show a positive relationship with good mental health, while warmer nights for the same period during summer are detrimental to mental health. Our results also highlight the effect of temperature shocks on mental health components (such as depression, loneliness, etc.) and the contributions of factors such as age, exercise, and underlying health conditions to mental health outcomes. |
| Keywords: | climate change, mental health, wellbeing, weather shocks, temperature, South Africa |
| JEL: | I31 Q54 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12083 |
| By: | Daniel Tuki; |
| Abstract: | Although considerable research has examined the impact of violent conflict on health outcomes in Africa—such as undernutrition, child mortality, and maternal mortality—a significant gap remains in understanding how it affects individuals’ perceptions of healthcare services and the quality of their interactions with healthcare staff during hospital visits. This study seeks to address that gap by analyzing data from Round 9 of the Afrobarometer survey, conducted across 39 African countries between 2021 and 2023 (n = 53, 444). Regression analysis indicates that greater exposure to violent conflict is associated with a lower probability of individuals visiting a healthcare facility in the past year—likely due to fear of victimization, which suppresses health-seeking behavior. Among the subset of respondents who did visit a healthcare facility, further analysis shows that conflict exposure is linked to more negative evaluations of the care they received. Specifically, it increases the likelihood of individuals reporting poor service quality, experiencing disrespect from healthcare staff, and paying bribes to access needed care. |
| Keywords: | africa, healthcare, perceptions, service quality, violent conflict |
| JEL: | D74 F52 I12 I14 I15 I18 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hic:wpaper:434 |
| By: | Alexandra Steiny Wellsjo; Paul Gertler; Ada Kwan; Eric Remera; Piero Irakiza; Jeanine Condo; James Humuza |
| Abstract: | The use of telemedicine has been on the rise. Although telemedicine has increased access to health care, little is known about how the medium changes providers’ medical decision-making. To evaluate how telemedicine differs from in-person care, we compare the quality and cost of in-person clinic visits and virtual visits over the phone for common conditions in Rwanda. To control for patient selection, we conduct an audit study with 2, 532 standardized patient visits, where individuals portraying real patients presented standardized cases for malaria and upper respiratory infection (URI). We find that the quality of virtual care is higher than that of in-person care for URI and equally as good for malaria. Telemedicine providers also asked more questions about symptoms and medical history and prescribed more optional medicines for symptom management than in-person providers. We further find that telemedicine is more efficient than in-person care: virtual consultations were faster, had shorter wait times, resulted in fewer unnecessary medications and tests, and cost less for patients. Controlling for a rich set of provider characteristics, we show that provider selection does not appear to drive the results. Instead, better provider-patient communication over the phone emerges as a key mechanism. Providers report that it is easier to treat, get information from, and relate to patients over the phone. Providers also report feeling less social pressure during phone consultations. Consistent with survey evidence, we find that providers prescribe unnecessary antibiotics when asked by patients face-to-face, but not over the phone. |
| JEL: | I1 M50 O3 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34185 |
| By: | Ulep, Valerie Gilbert T.; Casas, Lyle Daryll D.; Manuel, Aaron Carlos G. |
| Abstract: | Violence against children has profound and lasting effects on physical and emotional well-being, educational outcomes, and economic productivity. In low- and middle-income countries such as the Philippines, limited longitudinal data hinders researchers from examining the medium- and long-term effects of early exposure to violence across a range of well-being outcomes. This paper describes the magnitude of parental violence in the Philippines and estimates its lasting effects on school enrollment and academic performance in mathematics, reading, and science among young Filipino adolescents using longitudinal data. Findings indicate that, after controlling for child demographic, cognitive, health, academic, and household socioeconomic factors, young Filipino adolescents who experience parental violence at age 10 (with a 39.5% prevalence) have 52–57 percent lower odds of attending school by age 14 compared to unexposed peers. When analyzed by sex, boys and girls exposed to parental violence at age 10 were 48 percent and 66 percent less likely, respectively, to be enrolled by age 14. Although academic performance in math, reading, and science indicates a negative trend among exposed adolescents, the associations were not statistically significant. This study highlights how early exposure to parental violence may disrupt school participation. While evidence on academic performance suggests an adverse impact, it is less conclusive. These findings align with child development theories that emphasize how violence at home undermines children's behavior and overall well-being, which in turn leads to poor educational outcomes. The results suggest the need for sustained implementation and expansion of nationwide, multisectoral early interventions to prevent violence in the home and support the long-term academic development and well-being of Filipino learners. Additionally, strengthening data collection through improved measures of violence and academic performance will better elucidate the relationship between early exposure to violence and educational outcomes. Comments to this paper are welcome within 60 days from the date of posting. Email publications@mail.pids.gov.ph. |
| Keywords: | parental violence;early adolescence;school enrollment;academic performance |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2025-21 |
| By: | Shijun You; Wei Fu; Shin-Yi Chou |
| Abstract: | The Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program aims to reduce youth substance use by fostering multi-sector collaboration and implementing locally tailored strategies within the community. This study is among the first to evaluate the program’s impact on youth development outcomes in the United States. Using the Callaway and Sant’Anna (2021) difference-in-differences (CSDID) estimator, we find that the DFC program significantly reduces drug-related juvenile crime and improves academic performance. The effects are particularly pronounced in communities where coalitions include government agencies, highlighting the critical role of institutional coordination in mobilizing local resources. We also explore behavioral mechanisms, documenting reductions in marijuana use and opioid-related inpatient hospitalizations. A cost-benefit analysis indicates substantial welfare gains, suggesting that early-life prevention represents a cost-effective investment in public health. |
| JEL: | I12 I18 I20 I31 J13 K42 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34182 |
| By: | Domnisoru, Ciprian (Aalto University); Malinovskaya, Anna (Yale University); Taylor, Evan J. (University of Arizona) |
| Abstract: | We quantify the effect of education on mortality using a linkage of the full count 1940, 2000, and 2010 US census files and the Numident death records file. Our sample is composed of children aged 0-18 in 1940, observed living with at least one parent, for whom we can construct a rich set of parental and neighborhood characteristics. We estimate effects of educational attainment in 1940 on survival to 2000, as well as the effects of completed education, observed in 2000, on 10-year survival to 2010. The educational gradients in longevity that we estimate are robust to the inclusion of detailed individual, parental, household, neighborhood and county covariates. Given our full population census sample, we also explore rich patterns of heterogeneity and examine the effect of mediators of the education-mortality relationship. The mediators we consider in this study explain more than half of the relationship between education and mortality. We further show that the mechanisms underlying the education-mortality gradient might be different at different margins of educational attainment. |
| Keywords: | mortality, health, education |
| JEL: | I1 I2 J1 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18085 |
| By: | Morales, Marina |
| Abstract: | Using a panel dataset covering 27 European countries over a 53-year period, this study examines the relationship between paid paternity leave reforms and divorce rates. Controlling for policyrelated factors and other legislative changes affecting divorce, the dynamic analysis reveals that while the introduction of any paid paternity leave is initially associated with higher divorce rates, the effect becomes negative when focusing on policies offering 2 weeks or more of leave. The decrease in divorce rates becomes more significant as the length of leave increases and grows over time. Specifically, providing fathers with at least 2 weeks of paid leave after childbirth reduces divorce rates by 0.36 percentage points 15 years after implementation. Additional analyses of the underlying mechanisms suggest that, in the absence of extended paternity leave, the results are likely driven by improved labor market opportunities for women-a factor that may unintentionally increase the likelihood of divorce. |
| Keywords: | Paid paternity leave, divorce rates, Europe |
| JEL: | J48 J12 J16 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1659 |
| By: | Kronenberg, Christoph; Gerdtham, Ulf-Göran; Karlsson, Martin |
| Abstract: | The COVID-19 pandemic was a major shock for working parents, who faced sudden disruptions in both their work environment and their children’s schooling. We study the effect of remote schooling on parental labor market outcomes in Sweden, a setting characterized by minimal COVID-related containment measures, a robust social safety net and a well-established digital education infrastructure. For parents of teenagers, we find no evidence that remote schooling affected employment status, with some short-lived earnings increases that vary by the age of the child. We find neither systematic maternal– paternal differences nor variation by occupational remote-workability. |
| Date: | 2025–05–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajt:wcinch:83571 |
| By: | Tal Gross; Timothy Layton; Daniel Prinz; Julia Yates |
| Abstract: | We study how couples in the Medicare Part D program choose an insurance plan. Over 70 percent of enrollees choose the same plan as their spouse. Even among those with differing healthcare needs, well over half do so. Discrete-choice models suggest beneficiaries value being on the same plan as their spouse at over a thousand dollars per year. Using a regression-discontinuity design, we show that younger spouses disproportionately follow their older spouse’s plan choice. Joint plan choice contributes modestly to overall overspending, but increases costs substantially for the couples with different cost-minimizing plans. |
| JEL: | D12 D14 I13 |
| Date: | 2025–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34137 |