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on Neuroeconomics |
| By: | Yvonne Krabbe-Alkemade; France Portrait; Maarten Lindeboom; Marjolein Broese van Groenou; Hendrika J Luijen; Dorly Deegdijk |
| Abstract: | This study examines the causal effect of labor market restrictions faced by women in early adulthood on later-life cognitive functioning. To identify this effect, we exploit an exogenous policy change in the Netherlands that removed restrictions on married women's access to paid employment in 1957. Our study draws on data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, an ongoing cohort study of older individuals. We focus on individuals aged 75 and older born between 1928 and 1947. We first examine how work restrictions in early adulthood shape lifetime employment. Next, we assess how these work restrictions affect women’s later-life cognitive outcomes exploiting an exogenous change in labor restriction laws and complement this with an instrumental variables approach. The estimation results indicate that restricted access to paid employment for women in early adulthood reduced labor force participation and occupational prestige over the life course. These reduced labor market opportunities, in turn, led to poorer cognitive functioning after age 75. We also find some suggestive evidence that these restrictions resulted in faster cognitive decline. Taken together, our findings indicate that restrictions on women’s access to paid employment adversely affect cognitive functioning, thereby contributing to cognitive disparities between men and women in later life. More broadly, they highlight the long-term cognitive benefits of sustained labor market engagement and cognitively stimulating work, with potential implications for dementia prevention. |
| Keywords: | Cognitive functioning at older age, dementia, access to paid employment, gender disparities |
| JEL: | J16 J19 J24 |
| Date: | 2026–09–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mhe:chemon:paper_1788391888415_642 |
| By: | Hope Corman; Kelly Noonan; Nancy Reichman |
| Abstract: | We use U.S. nationally representative longitudinal data to estimate the effects of cognitive and behavioral impairments in childhood on health in adulthood. We focus on work-limiting health conditions and fair or poor self-rated health but also consider adequacy of sleep, body weight, and health behaviors (use of various substances and preventive health care) as potential pathways. In household fixed effects models, we find that both impairments are strongly associated with having a work-limiting health condition in adulthood; specifically, cognitive impairments increase the probability of a work-limiting condition by 70% and behavioral impairments increase the probability by 60%. Individuals with cognitive impairments in childhood are 43% more likely to report being in fair or poor health in adulthood compared to individuals without cognitive impairments. The effects of cognitive impairments on health do not appear to operate through insufficient sleep, obesity, or health behaviors. Individuals with childhood behavioral impairments are no more likely to report being in fair or poor health but are more likely to get insufficient sleep and to be obese, compared to individuals without behavioral impairments, suggesting that insufficient sleep and obesity could potentially lie on the pathway from behavioral impairments in childhood to work-limiting health conditions in adulthood. |
| JEL: | I10 I12 I14 J14 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35566 |
| By: | Elsa Perdrix; Axel H. Börsch-Supan; Johannes Geyer; Peter Haan; Sami Louahlia |
| Abstract: | Germany experiences an increase in LTC recipients, due to population ageing but also to reforms which made LTC benefits easier accessible for individuals with cognitive impairments. Previous studies documented the cost of long-term care, and how it evolved. However, less is known about the specific case of elderly people suffering from cognitive impairment. Thus, we measure the economic costs of cognitive impairment, which include extensive medical, nursing care and at-home long-term care. We use the SHARE, the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, Wave 9. We observe 4% of elderly people living at home with severe cognitive impairment (SCI) (Langa et al. (2017) definition). These individuals are 30% more likely to receive any care, and obtain on average 6 more hours of formal care and 6 more hours of informal care per week. The main driver is not the cognitive impairment per-se but the limitation in activities of daily living (ADLs) which SCI leads to. Thus, once controlling for ADLs, SCI does not explain any additional probability to use care. However, because people with SCI are more likely to have ADLs, the annual cost of their care is estimated to 10, 000 euros per year per individual on average. |
| JEL: | I1 J14 P46 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35469 |
| By: | Loske, Dominic; Grosse, Eric H.; Glock, Christoph H.; Klumpp, Matthias |
| Abstract: | Within warehouse logistics processes, design concepts and management decisions regarding operations systems determine the demands placed on human operators. While the literature proposes that human-centric work system design positively affects the operator, the impact on operator performance remains under-explored. We analyse the case of a German retail warehouse where the shelf numbering follows the pickers' walking direction from right to left. However, all human order pickers working in this system are familiar with a left-to-right writing system due to their schooling and training. Because cognitive psychology proposes that writing system direction impacts spatial orientation in goal-oriented visual search, we are motivated to explore the interplay of rack configuration and human cognitive demands. We ground our mixed-effects model on archival data, including 470, 968 storage location visits. Our results indicate that order pickers work 18.7% faster when picking items starting from the left side of the shelf compared to starting their visual search from the right side. Our findings suggest that human search strategies in warehousing operations are influenced by attention templates like writing direction on a similar level as by system design elements of the warehouse itself. This insight underscores the potential for diversified future human-centric design approaches in warehouse logistics. |
| Date: | 2026–08–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:161816 |
| By: | Axana Dalle; Eline Moens; Luc Van Ootegem; Elsy Verhofstadt; Stijn Baert |
| Keywords: | Mental well-being; Workplace; Interventions; Randomised controlled trials |
| JEL: | C93 I31 J28 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:26/1150 |