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on Neuroeconomics |
| By: | Philipp Dierker (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Mine Kühn (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Zachary Van Winkle |
| Abstract: | Objective: This study examines the association between accumulated family complexity and mental and physical health in mid-adulthood, with a focus on gender differences. Background: While research on family and health often centers on the health effects of specific family transitions, the life course health development model emphasizes the cumulative influence of life experiences on health. Complex family trajectories, particularly those including episodes of singlehood or single parenthood, may have lasting implications for mental and physical health. Method: Using data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, differently weighted sequence complexity indices were developed to capture the number and the unpredictability of transitions in partnership and parenthood trajectories from ages 18 to 55. Results: Family complexity is negatively associated with both women’s and men’s mental and physical health, but findings differ based on the specification of family complexity. Women’s physical health appears to be particularly affected by the accumulation of family complexity following a separation involving children, whereas men’s mental and physical health seem to be more affected by accumulated family complexity after any separation. Conclusion: By uncovering substantial gender differences in patterns of associations between family complexity and health, this study highlights the importance of accounting for gender-specific dynamics in studies of accumulated family complexity. Our finding that long-term health disadvantages are associated with family complexity suggests that entire life course trajectories should be considered and quantified when examining long-term health outcomes. |
| Keywords: | United Kingdom |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2025-002 |
| By: | Staner, Clément |
| Abstract: | Understanding how emotions stemming from negative outcomes affect investment decisions is critical for studying choice under uncertainty. I build a framework to study how past and anticipated negative emotions interact with an agent’s preference and environment to influence her investment level. I show that the dynamic effect of emotions on decisions is more complicated than previously thought and requires a careful analysis of the decision environment to build correct predictions. Using baseball data, I show how to use the theoretical framework empirically to investigate the dynamic impact of emotion and find that it leads to suboptimal pitch velocity decisions. |
| Date: | 2025–01–20 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:awi:wpaper:0757 |
| By: | Itzik Fadlon; Astrid Sophie Fugleholm; Torben Heien Nielsen |
| Abstract: | We use administrative records on the healthcare utilization and economic outcomes of the universe of Danish households to characterize survivors' mental health following their spouse's death. We provide visually clear evidence for the inevitable immediate, large, and lingering adverse impacts and focus on studying the role of potential mediators: economic conditions and the presence of children. We find no evidence of heterogeneity in family composition. As for economic outcomes, baseline levels of income and net wealth play only a modest role: there is no meaningful cross-household inequality gradient in mental health declines, so that spousal death is devastating for both the rich and the poor. Rather, a key source of heterogeneity in the decline in mental health is the household's degree of income insurance, that is, the within-household income variation. Specifically, the least-insured households experience an immediate decline in mental health that is 80 percent larger. Our findings suggest that the consumption smoothing welfare gains from income protection policies can have important spillovers to improved mental health in the context of severe household events. |
| JEL: | D1 H5 I1 I3 J1 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33359 |