-
Severe Prenatal shocks and adolescent health: Evidence from the Dutch Hunger Winter Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2024-03-02 Gabriella Conti, Stavros Poupakis, Peter Ekamper, Govert E. Bijwaard, L.H. Lumey
This paper investigates health impacts at the end of adolescence of prenatal exposure to multiple shocks, by exploiting the unique natural experiment of the Dutch Hunger Winter. At the end of World War II, a famine occurred abruptly in the Western Netherlands (November 1944 - May 1945), pushing the previously and subsequently well-nourished Dutch population to the brink of starvation. We link high-quality
-
The great Indian demonetization and gender gap in health outcomes: Evidence from two Indian states Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2024-02-29 Md Nazmul Ahsan, Sounak Thakur
We utilize the timing of India’s 2016 demonetization policy to examine whether a negative macroeconomic shock disproportionately affects women’s health outcomes relative to men’s. Our empirical framework considers women as the treated group and men as the comparison group. Using data from the National Family Health Survey-4 and a household fixed effects model, we find that the induced income shock
-
Do Conditional Cash Transfers Reduce Hypertension? Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2024-02-16 Emma Aguila, William H. Dow, Felipe Menares, Susan W. Parker, Jorge Peniche, Soomin Ryu
an anti-poverty conditional cash transfer program, has been a model for similar programs in more than 60 countries. Numerous studies have found positive impacts on schooling, the nutritional and health status of children and adolescents, and household consumption. However, the effects on the health of older adult beneficiaries have been particularly understudied. In this paper we analyze the effects
-
The relationship between Marriage and Body Mass Index in China:Evidence from the China Health and Nutrition Survey Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2024-02-12 Shiwen Quan, Huiyun Zhang
This study investigates the impact of marriage on the body mass index (BMI) of individuals aged 18-45 in China. We used data from ten rounds of the China Health and Nutrition Survey spanning from 1989 to 2015, and applied Difference-in-Differences (DID) model to examine the impact of marriage on BMI. Our findings reveal that marriage has a significant positive effect on BMI, especially among males
-
Lifetime costs of overweight and obesity in Italy Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2024-02-06 Vincenzo Atella, Federico Belotti, Matilde Giaccherini, Gerardo Medea, Antonio Nicolucci, Paolo Sbraccia, Andrea Piano Mortari
We use longitudinal electronic clinical data on a large representative sample of the Italian population to estimate the lifetime profile costs of different BMI classes – normal weight, overweight, and obese (I, II, and III) – in a primary care setting. Our research reveals that obese patients generate the highest cost differential throughout their lives compared to normal weight patients. Moreover
-
-
A tale of lockdown policies on the transmission of COVID-19 within and between Chinese cities: A study based on heterogeneous treatment effect Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2024-02-05 Jingjing Li, Chu Zhuang, Wei Zou
During the early outbreak phase of COVID-19 in China, lockdowns prevailed as the only available policy tools to mitigate the spread of infection. To evaluate the impact of lockdown policies in the context of the first phase of COVID-19 pandemic, we leverage data on daily confirmed cases per million people and related characteristics of a large set of cities. The study analyzed 369 Chinese cities, among
-
Occupational differences in the effects of retirement on hospitalizations for mental illness among female workers: Evidence from administrative data in China Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2024-02-05 Tianyu Wang, Ruochen Sun, Jody L. Sindelar, Xi Chen
Retirement, a major transition in the life course, may affect many aspects of retirees’ well-being, including health and health care utilization. Leveraging differential statutory retirement age (SRA) by occupation for China’s urban female workers, we provide some of the first evidence on the causal effect of retirement on hospitalizations attributable to mental illness and its heterogeneity. To address
-
Income insecurity and mental health in pandemic times Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2024-01-30 Dirk Foremny, Pilar Sorribas-Navarro, Judit Vall Castelló
This paper contributes to the literature on the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on mental health by providing novel evidence of its interaction with labor market conditions and the long-term persistence of these effects. We run four waves of a large-scale representative survey in Spain between April 2020 and April 2022, and benchmark our data against a decade of pre-pandemic information. We document
-
The effect of women's decision-making on child nutritional outcomes in South Africa Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2024-02-02 Olanrewaju Adewole Adediran
Women’s decision-making is a phenomenon in children's nutritional outcomes. This study investigated the causal effect of women’s decision-making on child nutritional outcomes using a panel dataset from the South African National Income Dynamic Survey (NIDS) from 2014/15 to 2017. The child's nutritional outcomes comprised three anthropometric measurements, which included weight-for-height, weight-for-age
-
Rational self-medication Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2024-01-28 Michael E. Darden, Nicholas W. Papageorge
We develop a model of rational self-medication in which individuals use potentially dangerous or addictive substances (e.g., alcohol) to manage symptoms of illness (e.g., depression) outside of formal medical care. A model implication is that the emergence of better treatments reduces incentives to self-medicate. To investigate, we use forty years of longitudinal data from the Framingham Heart Study
-
Peer effects in weight-related behaviours of young people: A systematic literature review Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2024-01-26 Nathalie Müller, Francesco Fallucchi, Marc Suhrcke
Individual preferences and beliefs are perpetually shaped by environmental influences, with peers playing a key role in this dynamic process. Compelling evidence from qualitative and quantitative studies has highlighted the significant impact of peer influence on health-related decisions. This systematic literature review critically synthesises findings from 45 studies published between 2011 and 2022
-
Assessing the effectiveness of international government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2024-01-18 H.éctor López-Mendoza, María A. González-Álvarez, Antonio Montañés
This paper examines the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical measures adopted by governments to control the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a Panel VAR model for the OECD countries, we test for Granger causality between the 7-day cumulative incidence, mortality rate, and government response indexes. Granger-type statistics reveal evidence that the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic influenced
-
The illness trap: The impact of disability benefits on willingness to receive HCV treatment Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2024-01-17 Marta Giachello, Lucia Leporatti, Rosella Levaggi, Marcello Montefiori
Health care is assumed to be a primary good, implying that patients should always demand or accept treatments that may enhance their life expectancy and quality of life, especially if the risks associated with the treatment are low. We argue that, especially in countries with a well-developed welfare state, treating an invalidating condition may lead to opportunity costs in terms of reduced disability
-
The modification of social space as a tool for lowering social stress Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2024-01-10 Oded Stark
The social stress experienced by an individual from having a low relative income or from having a low income-based rank is a derivative of the individual’s location in social space, and is the outcome of unfavorable comparisons with other individuals in that space. (The term social space stands for the set of individuals with whose incomes or with whose income-based ranks the individual compares his
-
Birth order and children’s health and learning outcomes in India Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-12-31 Arjita Chandna, Priya Bhagowalia
India has a high prevalence of stunting among children under five years of age, despite marginal improvement over the years. In 2019–21, 35.5 per cent of children below five years were stunted (National Family Health Survey (NFHS), 2019–21). This has been attributed to several factors including open defecation, poor maternal nutrition and food insecurity. This paper examines if the birth order of children
-
The effect of marijuana use in adolescence on college and graduate degree attainment Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-12-26 Aliaksandr A. Amialchuk, Brooke M. Buckingham
We estimate the long-term effect of using marijuana in adolescence on college and graduate degree attainment measured approximately 20 years later. We rely on the first two waves (1994–1996) and the fifth wave (2016–2018) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and estimate instrumental variables models that exploit the network structure at the second degree by using marijuana
-
Exposure to Islamophobia: The impacts of an increased risk of bullying victimization on human capital Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-12-21 J. Gabriel Romero-Ciavatto, Serafima Chirkova
We use the shock caused by terrorist attacks on the US on September 11, 2001, to study the short- and long-term consequences of exposure to Islamophobia in high-school-aged youths. Our estimates show an immediate sharp increase in rates of identity-based bullying against Arab/Muslim youths relative to youths of other ethnic groups during the years 2001-2003. We also find exposure to Islamophobia increased
-
Changing the mindsets? Education and the intergenerational spread of tolerance for physical violence against women in Zimbabwe Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-12-21 Marshall Makate, Chamunorwa Nyamuranga
We investigate the relationship between childhood exposure to interparental violence and adult tolerance for violent beliefs against women. For individuals who have witnessed parental violence in childhood, our analysis suggests a 14.3–15.2 percentage point (pp) increase in tolerance, highlighting the transmission of violent beliefs across generations. Leveraging Zimbabwe’s 1980 education reform as
-
Health inequality and health insurance coverage: The United States and China compared Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-12-20 Joan Costa-Font, Frank Cowell, Xuezhu Shi
We study inequality in the distribution of self-assessed health (SAH) in the United States and China, two large countries that have expanded their insurance provisions in recent decades, but that lack universal coverage and differ in other social determinants of health. Using comparable health survey data from China and the United States, we compare health inequality trends throughout the period covering
-
COVID-19, deaths at home and end-of-life cancer care Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-12-19 Anastasia Arabadzhyan, Katja Grašič, Peter Sivey
During the COVID-19 pandemic there was a period of high excess deaths from cancer at home as opposed to in hospitals or in care homes. In this paper we aim to explore whether healthcare utilisation trajectories of cancer patients in the final months of life during the COVID-19 pandemic reveal any potential unmet healthcare need. We use English hospital records linked to data on all deaths in and out
-
Deforestation and child health in Cambodia Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-12-18 Gabriel Fuentes Cordoba
The impact of deforestation on child nutrition and health in poor regions of the world is a crucial topic to understand some of the implications of climate change on the wellbeing of the most vulnerable populations. I combine precise forest loss data with geocoded data from the Cambodian Demographic Health Surveys to investigate the impact of deforestation around the time of birth on child heath. In
-
Schools and the transmission of Sars-Cov-2: Evidence from Italy Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-12-13 Salvatore Lattanzio
This paper studies the effect on the spread of Sars-Cov-2 in Italy of schools’ re-openings and closures. Exploiting different re-opening dates across regions after the summer break of 2020, I show that early-opening regions experienced more cases in the 40 days following school re-openings compared with late-opening ones. However, there is great uncertainty around the estimates, and this suggests a
-
People inflows as a pandemic trigger: Evidence from a quasi-experimental study Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-12-15 Andrea Caria, Marco Delogu, Marta Meleddu, Giovanni Sotgiu
Although it has been established that population density can contribute to the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, there is no evidence to suggest that economic activities, which imply a significant change in mobility, played a causal role in the unfolding of the pandemic. In this paper, we exploit the particular situation of Sardinia (Italy) in 2020 to examine how changes in mobility due to tourism inflows
-
Cigarette packaging, warnings, prices, and contraband: A discrete choice experiment among smokers in Ontario, Canada Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-12-15 G. Emmanuel Guindon, Emmanouil Mentzakis, Neil J. Buckley
In Canada, despite substantial decline, tobacco use remains the leading risk factor responsible for mortality and morbidity. There is overwhelming evidence that higher tobacco taxes reduce tobacco use, even if high taxes create an incentive to avoid or evade tobacco taxes. Recently, in addition to taxes, plain and standardized packaging and printing a warning on each cigarette have been lauded to reduce
-
Hypertension effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns: Evidence from a repeated cross-sectional survey in Peru Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-12-11 Raisa Sara, Vlad Radoias, Younoh Kim
Using data from Peru and a quasi-experimental approach, we document significant increases in arterial blood pressure and in the incidence of arterial hypertension caused by the restrictive measures employed by the Peruvian authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The effects are more pronounced for women, older respondents, and urban residents. The effects are statistically significant and high in
-
Global pain levels before and during the COVID-19 pandemic Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-12-10 Lucía Macchia, Liam Delaney, Michael Daly
Physical pain has trended upward globally over the last decade. Here, we explore whether the COVID-19 pandemic modified this alarming trend. We used data from 146 countries worldwide (510,247 respondents) to examine whether pain levels changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adjusted regressions across countries revealed that 33.3% of people were in pain in 2019, 32.8% in 2020, 32.5% in 2021, and 34
-
Fertility and immigration: Do immigrant mothers hand down their fertility pattern to the next generation? Evidence from Norway Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-12-09 Jostein Grytten, Irene Skau, Rune Sørensen
We examined whether the fertility pattern of immigrant mothers is handed down to the next generation. Our analyses were carried out on population register data. These data contained information on all immigrants to Norway from 123 countries during the period 1935–1995. We examined whether there was a relationship between the fertility rate in the country of origin and the number of children for generations
-
Childhood circumstances, social mobility and the obesity transition: Evidence from South Africa Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-12-06 Kate Rich, Dieter von Fintel
The distribution of obesity tends to shift from rich to poor individuals as countries develop, in a process of shifting sociodemographic patterns of obesity that has been called the ‘obesity transition’. This change tends to happen with economic development, but little is known about the specific mechanisms that drive the change. We propose that improvements in childhood circumstances with economic
-
Feeding for a brighter future: The long-term labor market consequences of school meals in rural China Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-12-01 Yanran Zhou, Jingru Ren, Xiaodong Zheng
This study examines the impacts of childhood exposure to the Nutrition Improvement Program (NIP), which provides free school meals to eligible students in rural China, on adult labor market outcomes. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies, we employ a cohort difference-in-differences (DID) design to identify the NIP’s long-term effects. The results show that early-life exposure to the NIP has
-
Economic incentives surrounding fertility: Evidence from Alaska’s permanent fund dividend Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-30 Nishant Yonzan, Laxman Timilsina, Inas Rashad Kelly
The Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend provided an incentive that increased fertility. This paper estimates the impact of the dividend transfer on fertility rates in Alaska compared to other states using the synthetic control methodology. For the period from 1982 to 1988, fertility on average increased annually in Alaska by 11.3 births per 1000 women aged 15–44—a 13.1 percent increase over the counterfactual
-
Parental gender preferences over three centuries: Evidence from Argentina Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-28 Fernando Antonio Ignacio González
In this paper I examine the evolution of parental gender preferences in Argentina (i.e., parents who prefer a certain gender composition in their children). To do this, I use census microdata that spans the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. The estimation strategy exploits the plausibly random assignment in the gender of children. The results show a persistent preference for a mixed gender composition
-
Is household shock a boon or bane to the utilisation of preventive healthcare for children? Evidence from Uganda Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-28 Susmita Baulia
This paper investigates how poor households in low-income countries trade off time investment in their children’s preventive healthcare vis-à-vis labour force participation during household-level health shocks. By using the reported illness or death of any household member as the indicator for an adverse health shock, I examine its effect on the intake of Vitamin A Supplementation (VAS) by children
-
Socioeconomic mortality differences during the Great Influenza in Spain Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-25 Sergi Basco, Jordi Domènech, Joan R. Rosés
Despite being one of the deadliest viruses in history, there is limited information on the socioeconomic factors that affected mortality rates during the Great Influenza Pandemic. In this study, we use occupation-province level data to investigate the relationship between influenza excess mortality rates and occupation-related status in Spain. We obtain three main results. Firstly, individuals in low-income
-
The health consequences of returning to work after retirement: Evidence from a Japanese longitudinal survey Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-25 Masaaki Mizuochi
Prolonged and active old age provides individuals with more chances to work again after full retirement. Returning to work is an increasingly common form of the retirement process and influences the sustainability of social security systems. Previous studies show a beneficial relationship between returning to work and health; however, little is known about the causal effect of returning to work on
-
Predicting depression in old age: Combining life course data with machine learning Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-24 Carlotta Montorsi, Alessio Fusco, Philippe Van Kerm, Stéphane P.A. Bordas
With ageing populations, understanding life course factors that raise the risk of depression in old age may help anticipate needs and reduce healthcare costs in the long run. We estimate the risk of depression in old age by combining adult life course trajectories and childhood conditions in supervised machine learning algorithms. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe
-
Genetic endowments for social capital: An investigation accounting for genetic nurturing effects Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-21 Michael Lebenbaum, France Gagnon, Claire de Oliveira, Audrey Laporte
Despite social capital having been shown to be important for health and well-being, relatively little research has examined genetic determinants. Genetic endowments for education have been shown to influence human, financial, and health capital, but few studies have examined social capital, and those conducted have yet to account for genetic nurturing. We used the Add-Health data to study the effect
-
The economics of aging with infectious and chronic diseases Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-20 Holger Strulik, Volker Grossmann
We develop an economic model of aging in which the susceptibility and severity of infectious diseases depend on the accumulated health deficits (immunosenescence) and the life history of infections affects the accumulation of chronic health deficits (inflammaging). Individuals invest in their health to slow down health deficit accumulation and take measures to protect themselves from infectious diseases
-
COVID-19 transmission in a resource dependent community with heterogeneous populations: An agent-based modeling approach Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-19 Aaron D. Wood, Kevin Berry
Outbreaks of COVID-19 in crowded work locations led to mass infection events during the pandemic that stressed health capacity in rural communities. This led to disparate responses – either isolating and restricting workers to facilities and potentially amplifying spread between them, more intense community wide restrictions, or an acceptance of higher disease spread. An extreme case is the salmon
-
How did unmet care needs during the pandemic affect health outcomes of older European individuals? Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-19 Julien Bergeot, Florence Jusot
The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic left many people with unmet health care needs, which could have detrimental effects on their health. This paper examines the effects of these unmet needs during the first wave of the pandemic on health outcomes one year later. We combine two waves of the SHARE survey collected during the COVID-19 pandemic (in June/July 2020 and 2021), as well as four waves collected
-
State dependence in immunization and the role of discouragement Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-07 Kabir Dasgupta, Gail Pacheco, Alexander Plum
We investigate whether having a child immunized at a prior schedule genuinely increases the likelihood of vaccinating the child at the subsequent schedule. We use longitudinal data from the Growing Up in New Zealand study and apply a dynamic random-effects model that also controls for the initial immunization status. Prior to any covariate-adjusted estimations, our data shows that almost 96% of the
-
Casino-based cash transfers and fertility among the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina: A time-series analysis Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-07 Parvati Singh, Alison Gemmill, Tim-Allen Bruckner
Fertility decline remains a key concern among high-income countries. Prior research indicates that income supplementation through unconditional cash transfers (UCT) may correspond with increased fertility. We examine whether a casino-based UCT, in the form of per capita (percap) payments to members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) corresponds with an acute increase in fertility. We use
-
The effect of hurricanes on mental health over the long term Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-11-03 Yasin Civelek
Existing causal studies examining the impact of hurricanes on health and health-related outcomes typically focus on short-run impacts and specific outcomes associated with physical health. In this paper, I explore the long-term effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the mental health of adults using two individual-level datasets from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the Panel Survey
-
Immigration policy shocks and infant health Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-10-11 Laxman Timilsina
This paper evaluates the effect of positive and negative immigration policy shocks on infant health outcomes in the U.S. I examine changes in mean birth weight and the incidence of low birth weight (LBW) at the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) level around two major institutional shocks: The 1986 Immigration Reform Act (IRCA), which favored immigrants, and the increase in Immigration and Customs
-
Exposure to wildfires and health outcomes of vulnerable people: Evidence from US data Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-10-06 Jiyuan Zheng
This paper investigates the causal effect of wildfire exposure on birth outcomes and older people’s health outcomes in United States (US). The study focuses on three sub-questions for each health outcome: (1) the causal effect of each of the five largest wildfires on individual health, (2) the causal impact of multiple large wildfires on individual health outcomes, and (3) the causal influence of wildfires
-
Paid family leave and parental investments in infant health: Evidence from California Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-10-07 Jessica Pac, Ann Bartel, Christopher Ruhm, Jane Waldfogel
This paper evaluates the effect of Paid Family Leave (PFL) on breastfeeding and immunizations– two critical parental investments in infant health – which we identify using California’s 2004 PFL policy that ensured mothers up to six weeks of leave at a 55% wage replacement rate. We employ difference-in-difference and difference-in-difference-in-differences models for a large, representative sample of
-
Air quality and employee performance in teams: Evidence from the NFL Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-10-05 Brad R. Humphreys, Jane E. Ruseski
Emerging research documents the impact of poor air quality on employee performance in a number of settings, including sport. Unlike other settings, sports teams have limited ability to influence previously scheduled games, making air quality exogenous to unobservable factors affecting game outcomes. We link play-level data from National Football League (NFL) games to data from air quality monitoring
-
Mental health effects of COVID-19 lockdowns: A Twitter-based analysis Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-09-26 Sara Colella, Frédéric Dufourt, Vincent A. Hildebrand, Rémi Vivès
We use a distinctive methodology that leverages a fixed population of Twitter users located in France to gauge the mental health effects of repeated lockdown orders. To do so, we derive from our population a mental health indicator that measures the frequency of words expressing anger, anxiety and sadness. Our indicator did not reveal a statistically significant mental health response during the first
-
Too stressed to sleep? Downsizing, job insecurity and sleep behavior Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-09-14 Cornelia Chadi
While workforce downsizing can benefit firms by increasing efficiency, it also leads to a deterioration of worker job security. This study uses German survey data to investigate the impact of downsizing on quality and quantity of sleep. While the topic is largely unexplored, it is of central importance, as sleep is not only the most time-consuming activity in the life of individuals, but also highly
-
Valuing mortality attributable to present and future temperature extremes in Argentina Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-09-09 Christian García-Witulski, Mariano Javier Rabassa, Mariana Conte Grand, Julie Rozenberg
This study analyses the weather-related health damage of present and future extreme temperatures in Argentina. Focusing on mortality, short-term impacts of temperature are obtained by regressing monthly mortality rates on inter-annual monthly weather variability. For this purpose, a countrywide panel dataset at the municipal level was constructed from the universe of deaths between 2010 and 2019, and
-
Trade liberalization and nutrition transition: Evidence from China Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-09-09 Xu Tian, Faqin Lin
We examine the impact of trade liberalization on the nutrition transition between 1997 and 2011. Our findings demonstrate that the reduction in tariff rates has had a significant effect on the dietary patterns of both rural and urban residents in the country. With the decrease in tariffs, there has been a noticeable increase in the consumption of animal products (such as meat and aquatic products)
-
Height and political activism in rural Aragón (Spain) during the 20th century. A new perspective using individual-level data Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-09-02 Francisco J. Marco-Gracia, Margarita López-Antón
This article explores the relationship between the political leanings of more than 1000 men born in the 1870–1970 s in 11 rural Aragonese villages and their biological well-being during childhood and adolescence, proxied by height. The aim is to test whether an individual was more likely to be left-wing if his level of biological well-being was lower and, therefore, with more incentives to fight against
-
Health insurance, labor market shocks, and mental health during the first year of the COVID-19 crisis Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-08-23 Sanders Korenman, Rosemary T. Hyson
We use the Census Household Pulse Survey (HPS) to examine employment and earnings loss, health insurance, and hardships related to physical and mental health and health care, as well as food insecurity and difficulty meeting expenses, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pandemic job loss is strongly associated with uninsurance in the HPS. Moreover, among those who were not employed due
-
Causal effect of obesity on the probability of employment in women in Turkey Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-08-22 Didem Pekkurnaz
This study aims to investigate the causal effect of obesity on the employment probability of women in Turkey via the instrumental variable approach by using data from the 2018 Turkey and Demographic Health Survey. Obesity prevalence in the area of living and the overweight status of the oldest child, which are the most common types of instruments seen in the literature, are used as instruments. Consistent
-
Mental health effects of social distancing in Switzerland Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-08-19 Marc Anderes, Stefan Pichler
This analysis examines the effect of COVID-19 on public mental health in Switzerland. Following an event-study framework, we compare helpline call volume and duration before and after the outbreak of the first and second wave. The use of administrative phone-level data allows us to i) decompose the total effects into an intensive and extensive margin and ii) calculate a measure of unmet need. For the
-
The intergenerational legacy of the 1959–1961 Great Chinese Famine on children’s clognitive development Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-08-16 Chih Ming Tan, Zhibo Tan, Xiaobo Zhang
We investigate the effect of early exposure to malnutrition on the cognitive abilities of the offspring of survivors in the context of a natural experiment; i.e., the Great Chinese Famine (GCF) of 1959–61. We employ a novel dataset – the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) – to do so. The paper finds that the cognitive abilities of children whose fathers were born in rural areas during the famine years
-
Gender differences in the effect of teleworking on job loss during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-08-16 Maite Blázquez, Ainhoa Herrarte, Ana I. Moro-Egido
This paper analyzes gender differences regarding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the likelihood of job loss, differentiating between employment transitions towards unemployment, inactivity and furlough schemes, and the role that teleworking may have had as a protector of job loss in Spain. Based on more than 1,800 types of jobs defined by occupation and economic activity combinations, we propose
-
The effects of taxation on the individual consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-08-09 Céline Bonnet, Vincent Réquillart
To assess the impact of taxation on the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) most economic studies using household data consider the average consumer. Individual consumption is, however, very heterogeneous. In this paper, we propose a three-step methodology to evaluate the impact of SSB taxation on individual consumption. First, we use a disaggregation method to recover individual consumption
-
Leave for where? The impact of air quality on migration: Evidence at the city-pair level in China Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-08-02 Mingyue Wang, Tianshi Sun
We comprehensively explore the question of “Leave for where?” by utilizing city-pair level data of China spanning from 2011 to 2017. Our investigation focuses on the impact of disparities in air quality between city pairs on migration. we find that a 1% increase in the difference air quality between inflow and outflow locations raises the number of people migrating from the outflow to the inflow location
-
Seasonal patterns in newborns’ health: Quantifying the roles of climate, communicable disease, economic and social factors Econ. Hum. Biol. (IF 2.5) Pub Date : 2023-08-02 Mary-Alice Doyle
Poor health at birth can have long-term consequences for children’s development. This paper analyses an important factor associated with health at birth: the time of year that the baby is born, and hence seasonal risks they were exposed to in utero. There are multiple potential explanations for seasonality in newborns’ health. Most previous research has examined these in isolation. We therefore do