Using a rich Italian cross-sectional dataset, we estimate the effect of a neighborhood problems aggregate (including pollution, crime, and noise) on self-assessed health, presence of chronic conditions and limitations in daily activities. We address the self-selection of the residents in their...

Globally, suicide has emerged as the second leading cause of death among youth aged 10–24 years old. In order to better understand the causes of this phenomenon, we investigate the relationship between suicidal ideation and cannabis use. Our empirical analysis is based on a 30-year...

This paper estimates the impact of informal caregiving on self-reported well-being. It uses a sample of 23,285 respondents of the first eleven waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA).

Increased health care spending has placed pressure on public and private payers to prioritize spending. Cost-effectiveness (CE) analysis is the main tool used by payers to prioritize coverage of new therapies. We argue that reimbursement based on CE is subject to a form of the “Lucas...

We investigate the impact of the implementation of Diabetes Management Programs with financial incentives in the Italian Region Emilia-Romagna between 2003 and 2005. We focus on avoidable hospitalisations for diabetic patients for whom GPs receive additional payments exceeding capitation. We...

This paper investigates the effects of reducing subsidies for private health insurance on public sector expenditure for hospital care. An econometric framework using simultaneous equation models is developed to analyse the interrelated decisions on the intensity and type of health care use and...

This paper investigates the leave-out strategy of instruments by using the leave-out community ratio of household access to in-yard water sources and community water infrastructure as instruments for hours in fetching water time, and the data on disease symptoms. The results show that...

Priorities for public health innovations are typically not considered equally by all members of the public. When faced with a choice between various innovation options, it is, therefore, possible that some respondents eliminate and/or select innovations based on certain characteristics. This...

To test how practice interruptions affect worker productivity, we estimate how temporal breaks affect surgeons’ performance of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Examining 188 surgeons who performed 56,315 CABG surgeries in Pennsylvania between 2006 and 2010, we find that a surgeon's...

This paper revisits the relationship between nurse staffing and quality of care in nursing homes using an instrumental variables approach. Most prior studies rely on cross-sectional evidence, which renders causal inference problematic and policy recommendations inappropriate. We exploit...